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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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bore — to drill
  3. fall — the season
  4. mate — a partner
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. fall — to drop
  10. court — of a king
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — help
  14. court — of law
  15. court — for sport
  16. spell — magic
  17. mate — to breed
  18. fall — to drop
  19. spell — a short time
  20. spell — letters
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. mate — a friend
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bore — to tire

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