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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 water is too ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. drill — a practice
  3. clip — for paper
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. mark — a grade
  7. deal — to handle
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. drill — the tool
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. clip — to cut
  12. mark — a trace
  13. rule — a law
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. cold — an illness
  16. rule — government
  17. drill — army training
  18. roll — a cake
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. roll — a list
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. clip — a video
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. pitcher — a jug

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