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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 116 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. drill — a practice
  3. clip — for paper
  4. wound — an injury
  5. game — wild animals
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. clip — to cut
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. saw — the tool
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. drill — the tool
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. capital — money
  14. deal — to handle
  15. wound — an injury
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. drill — army training
  18. clip — a video
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. saw — the tool
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. deal — a big deal

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