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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 120 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: row · tube · file · suit · wake · wound · bass · clip

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  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. wake — before a funeral
  2. clip — for paper
  3. file — a tool
  4. wound — an injury
  5. clip — to cut
  6. suit — to fit
  7. bass — the fish
  8. tube — a container
  9. tube — the underground
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. wake — a trail
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. bass — low music
  15. file — a document
  16. row — a line
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. suit — in cards
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. suit — clothes
  23. file — a line of people
  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