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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — a practice
  4. bound — tied together
  5. branch — a division
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — a city
  9. net — for catching
  10. hand — help
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. net — in sport
  13. clip — to cut
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. drill — army training
  18. capital — money
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bound — certain
  21. net — after costs
  22. tear — from crying
  23. clip — a video
  24. bound — obliged

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