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

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. drill — the tool
  3. clip — a video
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. mate — to breed
  6. clip — to cut
  7. drill — army training
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. foot — a measure
  10. clip — for paper
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. capital — a city
  13. drill — a practice
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. spell — a short time
  19. mate — a partner
  20. spell — magic
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. capital — money
  23. cold — not warm
  24. mate — a friend

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