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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  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. drill — army training
  2. content — happy
  3. swing — to play on
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. swing — music
  6. pitch — completely
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. clip — a video
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. fork — in a road
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. wound — an injury
  15. content — the amount
  16. swing — in golf
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. wound — an injury
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. clip — to cut
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. drill — the tool
  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