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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 120 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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. drill — the tool
  4. bore — to tire
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — money
  7. last — final
  8. fall — the season
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bore — to drill
  11. clip — to cut
  12. last — to go on
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. drill — army training
  15. last — finally
  16. current — happening now
  17. current — electric
  18. drill — a practice
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. current — of water
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. fall — to drop
  23. clip — a video
  24. bore — gave birth

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