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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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. drill — the tool
  3. clip — a video
  4. drill — a practice
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. pop — music
  7. bat — the animal
  8. clip — to cut
  9. cap — a lid
  10. wind — moving air
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. pop — to visit
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pop — soda
  17. cap — of ice
  18. clip — for paper
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. cap — a hat
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. drill — army training

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