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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. pitch — completely
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. clip — to cut
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — the animal
  10. drill — the tool
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. drill — army training
  13. band — a ring
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. shower — rain
  18. clip — for paper
  19. date — the fruit
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. band — a music group
  24. clip — a video

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