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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. drill — the tool
  4. hand — help
  5. cell — a phone
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. drill — a practice
  9. bore — to tire
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. hand — in cards
  15. drill — army training
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. rock — music
  22. rock — a stone
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bore — to drill

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