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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. net — for catching
  3. net — in sport
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. bore — to drill
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. drill — army training
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. bore — to tire
  11. clip — a video
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. snap — to click
  14. clip — to cut
  15. season — of the year
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. clip — for paper
  18. season — in sport
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. net — after costs
  21. drill — a practice
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. drill — the tool
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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