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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 water is too ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. drill — the tool
  5. cold — an illness
  6. game — wild animals
  7. ground — the earth
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. scale — in music
  10. clip — to cut
  11. rule — a law
  12. bulb — for light
  13. ground — crushed
  14. ground — a position
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. bulb — for light
  17. rule — government
  18. clip — a video
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. clip — for paper
  21. scale — size or range
  22. game — a match
  23. drill — army training
  24. rule — to rule out

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