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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. object — to protest
  3. cold — an illness
  4. track — a song
  5. wound — an injury
  6. race — a contest
  7. object — an aim
  8. track — to keep track
  9. rock — music
  10. clip — a video
  11. track — a path
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. drill — a practice
  14. clip — for paper
  15. race — humankind
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. rock — a stone
  18. race — the arms race
  19. clip — to cut
  20. drill — army training
  21. object — a thing
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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