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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 116 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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. current — electric
  3. file — a document
  4. fall — to drop
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. clip — to cut
  7. spell — a short time
  8. club — for dancing
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. clip — for paper
  11. spell — magic
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. file — a tool
  15. club — a group
  16. file — a line of people
  17. current — happening now
  18. mine — for digging
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. current — of water
  21. fall — the season
  22. fall — to drop
  23. club — for golf
  24. clip — a video

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