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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. game — a match
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. wake — a trail
  5. clip — a video
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. tube — the underground
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bore — to tire
  10. drill — army training
  11. spring — the season
  12. tube — a container
  13. bank — of a river
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. bank — for money
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bore — to drill
  19. bank — for money
  20. game — wild animals
  21. clip — to cut
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — a practice
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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