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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 120 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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. drill — a practice
  3. band — a ring
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. clip — to cut
  8. band — a music group
  9. land — to come down
  10. tear — to rip
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. land — a country
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — a video
  15. capital — a city
  16. bore — to tire
  17. drill — army training
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. drill — the tool
  21. bore — to drill
  22. capital — money
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. capital — a big letter

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