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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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Word bank
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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: clip · hand · craft · file · march · bound · dip · drill

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. clip — for paper
  3. hand — in cards
  4. drill — a practice
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. file — a document
  8. march — music
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. bound — obliged
  11. craft — boats
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. clip — a video
  15. drill — the tool
  16. clip — to cut
  17. dip — to sink
  18. file — a line of people
  19. bound — tied together
  20. drill — army training
  21. march — the month
  22. file — a tool
  23. bound — certain
  24. march — the month

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