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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. drill — army training
  3. branch — a division
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. drill — the tool
  6. chip — for betting
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. staff — a stick
  9. fall — to drop
  10. staff — employees
  11. fall — the season
  12. staff — employees
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. drill — a practice
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. fall — to drop
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. chip — to eat
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bat — the animal

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