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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 116 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: ground · file · bound · mouse · clip · season · wake · rest

  1. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. mouse — the animal
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. season — of the year
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bound — tied together
  6. file — a tool
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — a position
  11. rest — what's left
  12. ground — crushed
  13. file — a document
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. season — in sport
  16. wake — a trail
  17. bound — certain
  18. rest — a break
  19. rest — what's left
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. file — a line of people
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  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