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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. land — ground
  3. cap — a lid
  4. land — a country
  5. ball — a dance
  6. clip — for paper
  7. saw — the tool
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. clip — a video
  10. cap — of ice
  11. clip — to cut
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a line of people
  14. fall — to drop
  15. ball — a great time
  16. saw — the tool
  17. fall — to drop
  18. cap — a hat
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. file — a document
  23. fork — in a road
  24. land — to come down

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com