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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — a practice
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. clip — a video
  6. rush — hurry
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. rash — a series
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. rash — hasty
  12. firm — a company
  13. firm — steady
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. firm — decided
  16. row — a line
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — for paper
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. drill — army training
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. row — to paddle

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