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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. pop — soda
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. pop — to visit
  9. mine — for digging
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. pop — music
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cap — a lid
  15. clip — a video
  16. drill — army training
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. cap — a hat
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. season — in sport
  21. deal — to handle
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. drill — a practice
  24. season — of the year

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