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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 ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. spring — of water
  4. drill — army training
  5. clip — a video
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. clip — to cut
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. spring — a coil
  10. drill — a practice
  11. spring — the season
  12. squash — to crush
  13. wound — an injury
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. clip — for paper
  16. drill — the tool
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. squash — the sport
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — money
  24. wound — an injury

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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