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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 had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. clip — a video
  4. spell — letters
  5. clip — to cut
  6. drill — army training
  7. drill — the tool
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spring — the season
  10. bank — of a river
  11. field — a subject
  12. spring — of water
  13. clip — for paper
  14. field — farmland
  15. spring — a coil
  16. bank — for money
  17. bank — for money
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — moving air
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. field — for sport
  23. spell — magic
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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