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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. drill — army training
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. present — a gift
  7. spring — the season
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. wake — a trail
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. drill — the tool
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. present — there
  15. present — the time now
  16. drill — a practice
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. stock — shares
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — a coil
  21. clip — to cut
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — for paper

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