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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: spring · clip · rush · drill · wake · cue · rule · deal

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rush — hurry
  4. clip — a video
  5. rule — a law
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. drill — army training
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. wake — a trail
  12. spring — of water
  13. cue — a signal
  14. deal — to handle
  15. rule — government
  16. spring — a coil
  17. drill — a practice
  18. spring — the season
  19. cue — a hint
  20. drill — the tool
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. cue — for pool
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. clip — for paper

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