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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. clip — a video
  3. pit — a hole
  4. drill — a practice
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. drill — the tool
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pit — in a race
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. clip — for paper
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. current — of water
  13. current — electric
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. prune — to trim
  18. cold — an illness
  19. current — happening now
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. drill — army training
  23. clip — to cut
  24. prune — the fruit

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