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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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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: stem · march · row · key · snap · clip · shower · file

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. clip — a video
  4. file — a line of people
  5. shower — to wash
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a tool
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. shower — rain
  11. clip — to cut
  12. key — for a lock
  13. row — a line
  14. row — to paddle
  15. key — in music
  16. march — the month
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. march — music
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. key — the most important part
  22. march — the month
  23. stem — to come from
  24. snap — to click

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