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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. mate — to breed
  3. mate — a partner
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. kid — child
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — a video
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. clip — to cut
  12. plane — a tool
  13. file — a document
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. file — a tool
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. kid — to tease
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. rest — a break
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. mate — a friend
  23. rest — what's left
  24. rest — what's left

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