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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — army training
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — farmland
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. saw — the tool
  9. charge — electricity
  10. charge — a price
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. saw — the tool
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. field — for sport
  15. sharp — clever
  16. charge — in control
  17. clip — a video
  18. drill — a practice
  19. clip — for paper
  20. band — a ring
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bark — to shout
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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