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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 belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. spring — of water
  3. mug — a cup
  4. drill — army training
  5. club — for dancing
  6. hand — in cards
  7. mug — a face
  8. bore — to drill
  9. club — for golf
  10. mug — to rob
  11. race — the arms race
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. clip — a video
  14. drill — a practice
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. bore — to tire
  17. race — a contest
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. hand — help
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — the season
  23. drill — the tool
  24. race — humankind

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