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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. drill — the tool
  5. rush — hurry
  6. pitch — completely
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — of water
  9. clip — a video
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. drill — a practice
  12. clip — for paper
  13. drill — army training
  14. clip — to cut
  15. bound — obliged
  16. shower — rain
  17. bound — tied together
  18. spell — magic
  19. bound — certain
  20. spell — a short time
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. spell — letters
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. shower — to wash

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