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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: bulb · file · racket · clip · staff · mark · wound · pitcher

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. wound — an injury
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. staff — a stick
  6. clip — for paper
  7. staff — employees
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bulb — for light
  10. mark — a trace
  11. file — a tool
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. mark — a grade
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. bulb — for light
  19. clip — a video
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a document
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. wound — an injury
  24. racket — a loud noise

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