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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — for paper
  6. file — a tool
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. capital — a city
  11. clip — to cut
  12. rest — a break
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. rest — what's left
  15. key — the most important part
  16. key — in music
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. file — a document
  21. key — for a lock
  22. rest — what's left
  23. kick — in football
  24. march — the month

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