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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. pit — a hole
  3. bound — obliged
  4. cold — not warm
  5. spell — letters
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. drill — army training
  9. swing — in golf
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. spell — magic
  13. wound — an injury
  14. drill — a practice
  15. tube — the underground
  16. wound — an injury
  17. spell — a short time
  18. bound — tied together
  19. pit — in a race
  20. tube — a container
  21. bound — certain
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. swing — music
  24. swing — to play on

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