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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 116 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 have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. drill — army training
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. clip — a video
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. clip — to cut
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. wake — a trail
  11. drill — the tool
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. lie — to recline
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. clip — for paper
  18. march — music
  19. field — a subject
  20. march — the month
  21. drill — a practice
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — farmland
  24. march — the month

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