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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. drill — the tool
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. pass — a permit
  12. drill — a practice
  13. hand — in cards
  14. chest — of your body
  15. clip — to cut
  16. hand — help
  17. game — a match
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. chest — of your body
  20. dip — to sink
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. game — wild animals
  23. drill — army training
  24. chest — a box

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