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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · craft · file · clip · spell · pitch

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. spell — letters
  3. clip — a video
  4. craft — boats
  5. pitch — completely
  6. tear — from crying
  7. craft — a skill
  8. file — a tool
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. tear — to rip
  11. clip — to cut
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. spell — magic
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. spell — a short time
  16. file — a line of people
  17. file — a document
  18. tear — from crying

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