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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. last — to go on
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — for catching
  5. bass — low music
  6. tear — to rip
  7. last — final
  8. net — after costs
  9. drill — a practice
  10. clip — a video
  11. last — finally
  12. drill — the tool
  13. press — newspapers
  14. ball — a great time
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. tear — from crying
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bass — the fish
  20. tear — from crying
  21. press — to push
  22. ball — a dance
  23. press — a publisher
  24. drill — army training

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