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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 120 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. drill — a practice
  3. file — a line of people
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. chest — a box
  6. content — happy
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. clip — for paper
  9. drill — army training
  10. saw — the tool
  11. content — the amount
  12. clip — to cut
  13. chest — of your body
  14. saw — the tool
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. file — a tool
  18. clip — a video
  19. file — a document
  20. chest — of your body
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. drill — the tool
  24. wound — an injury

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