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

Word bank: wind · file · cue · temple · foot · drill · content · clip

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. cue — a hint
  3. file — a line of people
  4. content — the amount
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. cue — a signal
  7. wind — moving air
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. drill — a practice
  10. file — a tool
  11. content — happy
  12. drill — the tool
  13. cue — for pool
  14. clip — to cut
  15. foot — a measure
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. clip — for paper
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. drill — army training
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. file — a document
  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