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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: cap · saw · bear · spring · file · key · clip · land

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. bear — the animal
  3. clip — for paper
  4. key — the most important part
  5. file — a document
  6. spring — a coil
  7. land — ground
  8. key — in music
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. spring — of water
  12. file — a line of people
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. spring — the season
  15. bear — the animal
  16. saw — the tool
  17. cap — a lid
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. cap — a hat
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — a country
  22. file — a tool
  23. key — for a lock
  24. cap — of ice

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