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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. drill — army training
  3. present — the time now
  4. clip — to cut
  5. pass — a permit
  6. drill — the tool
  7. net — in sport
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. net — after costs
  10. shower — to wash
  11. shower — rain
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. chest — of your body
  14. present — there
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. clip — for paper
  17. chest — a box
  18. present — a gift
  19. clip — a video
  20. wound — an injury
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. chest — of your body
  23. net — for catching
  24. drill — a practice

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