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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. staff — a stick
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. clip — a video
  6. wound — an injury
  7. chest — of your body
  8. charge — in control
  9. wound — an injury
  10. tube — a container
  11. chest — a box
  12. drill — army training
  13. tube — the underground
  14. charge — electricity
  15. staff — employees
  16. charge — a price
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. staff — employees
  19. wind — moving air
  20. drill — a practice
  21. clip — to cut
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. chest — of your body
  24. drill — the tool

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