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

Word bank: tear · stick · drill · squash · field · charge · clip · swing

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. swing — to play on
  4. tear — to rip
  5. charge — a price
  6. squash — the sport
  7. drill — a practice
  8. clip — a video
  9. swing — music
  10. field — a subject
  11. drill — the tool
  12. clip — for paper
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. field — farmland
  16. charge — electricity
  17. swing — in golf
  18. clip — to cut
  19. squash — to crush
  20. tear — from crying
  21. drill — army training
  22. tear — from crying
  23. charge — in control
  24. field — for sport

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