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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. clip — a video
  3. drill — army training
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. spring — the season
  6. mark — a trace
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. capital — a city
  9. sharp — clever
  10. wound — an injury
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. clip — for paper
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. capital — money
  17. clip — to cut
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. spring — a coil
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. mark — a grade
  22. spring — of water
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. drill — a practice

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