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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. mark — a trace
  3. chest — a box
  4. chest — of your body
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. clip — to cut
  7. file — a tool
  8. clip — for paper
  9. spell — a short time
  10. drill — the tool
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. clip — a video
  13. drill — army training
  14. bound — obliged
  15. spell — letters
  16. bound — tied together
  17. mark — a grade
  18. bound — certain
  19. spell — magic
  20. file — a line of people
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. chest — of your body
  23. file — a document
  24. patient — a sick person

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