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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: fine · firm · land · snap · file · pit · saw · clip

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. saw — the tool
  4. clip — for paper
  5. pit — a hole
  6. file — a line of people
  7. file — a document
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. pit — in a race
  10. saw — the tool
  11. file — a tool
  12. fine — all right
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. firm — decided
  15. clip — to cut
  16. firm — steady
  17. fine — high quality
  18. clip — a video
  19. land — ground
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. firm — a company
  22. snap — to click
  23. land — a country
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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