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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. clip — a video
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. cue — a hint
  5. file — a document
  6. clip — for paper
  7. mine — for digging
  8. bank — of a river
  9. cue — a signal
  10. bank — for money
  11. bank — for money
  12. file — a tool
  13. sharp — clever
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. cue — for pool
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. clip — to cut
  24. file — a line of people

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