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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. face — part of the head
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cap — a hat
  6. spring — of water
  7. face — to point toward
  8. bark — to shout
  9. cap — of ice
  10. scale — in music
  11. drill — a practice
  12. spring — a coil
  13. cap — a lid
  14. stand — to bear
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. scale — size or range
  17. drill — army training
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. clip — to cut
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. clip — a video
  23. spring — the season
  24. face — to confront

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