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

Word bank: suit · mine · can · race · clip · drill · wind · fall

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. drill — a practice
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — the season
  7. wind — moving air
  8. can — to be able to
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. suit — in cards
  11. can — a tin
  12. drill — the tool
  13. race — the arms race
  14. can — a tin
  15. clip — for paper
  16. suit — to fit
  17. clip — to cut
  18. race — a contest
  19. wind — moving air
  20. clip — a video
  21. drill — army training
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. suit — clothes
  24. race — humankind

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