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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. drill — a practice
  3. file — a document
  4. wound — an injury
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. drill — army training
  8. cell — in biology
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. cell — a phone
  12. charge — in control
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. file — a line of people
  17. clip — for paper
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. charge — electricity
  20. file — a tool
  21. pitch — completely
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. charge — a price
  24. patient — a sick person

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