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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. face — to confront
  4. shower — to wash
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — of water
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. drill — a practice
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. track — to keep track
  11. clip — for paper
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. face — to point toward
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. shower — rain
  16. clip — to cut
  17. drill — army training
  18. spring — a coil
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. track — a song
  21. track — a path
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. clip — a video
  24. face — part of the head

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