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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: fork · staff · file · plane · bass · clip · club · hide

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. clip — a video
  3. club — a group
  4. bass — the fish
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. club — for golf
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. clip — to cut
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — a stick
  13. clip — for paper
  14. staff — employees
  15. bass — low music
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. plane — a tool
  18. file — a line of people
  19. fork — in a road
  20. file — a tool
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. club — for dancing
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. file — a document

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