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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. cap — a hat
  3. suit — in cards
  4. cap — a lid
  5. bore — to tire
  6. drill — the tool
  7. clip — to cut
  8. field — for sport
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. clip — a video
  11. bore — to drill
  12. field — a subject
  13. suit — clothes
  14. cap — of ice
  15. drill — army training
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. shower — to wash
  20. drill — a practice
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. field — farmland
  23. shower — rain
  24. suit — to fit

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