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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. clip — to cut
  3. drill — army training
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. clip — for paper
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. wake — a trail
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. clip — a video
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. rest — a break
  17. drill — a practice
  18. drill — the tool
  19. wound — an injury
  20. band — a ring
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. wound — an injury
  23. band — a music group
  24. rest — what's left

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