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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 120 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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. plane — a tool
  4. club — a group
  5. press — a publisher
  6. clip — a video
  7. cap — a lid
  8. cap — a hat
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. chest — of your body
  11. file — a document
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. club — for golf
  14. clip — to cut
  15. press — newspapers
  16. clip — for paper
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. club — for dancing
  19. press — to push
  20. chest — a box
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cap — of ice
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. file — a tool

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