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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. drill — army training
  3. stem — to come from
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. spring — a coil
  6. clip — a video
  7. drill — a practice
  8. spring — of water
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. clip — for paper
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. object — a thing
  14. bore — to tire
  15. clip — to cut
  16. object — an aim
  17. drill — the tool
  18. wind — moving air
  19. spring — the season
  20. object — to protest
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. bore — to drill
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. temple — side of the head

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