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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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. object — an aim
  4. drill — a practice
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. tear — from crying
  7. ball — a dance
  8. object — to protest
  9. drill — the tool
  10. net — for catching
  11. tear — to rip
  12. net — after costs
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. tear — from crying
  16. object — a thing
  17. ball — a great time
  18. clip — to cut
  19. net — in sport
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. drill — army training
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. cold — an illness

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