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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. mug — a face
  4. key — the most important part
  5. clip — a video
  6. mug — a cup
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. band — a ring
  9. drill — the tool
  10. game — wild animals
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — money
  13. mug — to rob
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. drill — a practice
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. key — in music
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. game — a match
  23. key — for a lock
  24. band — a music group

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