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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. drill — army training
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. rash — hasty
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. clip — for paper
  11. rash — a series
  12. bat — the animal
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. chair — a leader
  16. clip — a video
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. chest — a box
  19. craft — a skill
  20. craft — boats
  21. foot — a measure
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. drill — a practice
  24. clip — to cut

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