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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. drill — army training
  4. clip — to cut
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. capital — a city
  8. swing — to play on
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. drill — the tool
  11. clip — for paper
  12. capital — money
  13. prune — to trim
  14. swing — music
  15. clip — a video
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. bound — certain
  19. bound — tied together
  20. prune — to trim
  21. snap — to click
  22. swing — in golf
  23. bound — obliged
  24. drill — a practice

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