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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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. squash — to crush
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. tube — a container
  6. chest — of your body
  7. mug — a face
  8. mug — to rob
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bank — of a river
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bank — for money
  15. drill — the tool
  16. squash — the sport
  17. mug — a cup
  18. chest — a box
  19. clip — a video
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bank — for money
  22. drill — army training
  23. tube — the underground
  24. squash — the vegetable

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