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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. clip — a video
  3. roll — a list
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. present — the time now
  6. pop — to visit
  7. present — a gift
  8. clip — for paper
  9. tube — a container
  10. mine — for digging
  11. clip — to cut
  12. drill — army training
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. tube — the underground
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. drill — the tool
  17. pop — soda
  18. staff — employees
  19. present — there
  20. drill — a practice
  21. staff — employees
  22. roll — a cake
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. pop — music

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