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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: game · clip · file · pitcher · fan · bulb · bat · net

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. file — a document
  7. net — in sport
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. net — for catching
  11. bulb — for light
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. bat — the animal
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. file — a line of people
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. game — a match
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. net — after costs
  22. file — a tool
  23. bulb — for light
  24. game — wild animals

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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