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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. land — ground
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. land — to come down
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. drill — a practice
  11. key — for a lock
  12. key — the most important part
  13. clip — a video
  14. drill — army training
  15. clip — for paper
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. key — in music
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. vault — a safe
  23. land — a country
  24. drill — the tool

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