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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. wind — moving air
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. drill — a practice
  6. drill — army training
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. wound — an injury
  9. drill — the tool
  10. clip — for paper
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. pop — soda
  14. wind — moving air
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. pop — to visit
  17. pop — music
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. capital — a city
  20. wound — an injury
  21. clip — a video
  22. dip — to sink
  23. clip — to cut
  24. wind — to turn a key

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