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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. hand — help
  3. drill — a practice
  4. clip — a video
  5. chip — to eat
  6. spring — a coil
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bass — low music
  10. chip — for betting
  11. clip — to cut
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — from a university
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. degree — an amount
  18. spring — of water
  19. clip — for paper
  20. spring — the season
  21. bass — the fish
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. drill — army training

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