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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 116 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. wake — a trail
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. pop — soda
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. cell — a phone
  8. clip — a video
  9. drill — a practice
  10. mug — to rob
  11. mug — a cup
  12. clip — to cut
  13. drill — the tool
  14. clip — for paper
  15. pop — music
  16. mark — a trace
  17. cell — in biology
  18. mug — a face
  19. drill — army training
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. mark — a grade
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. capital — money

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