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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: drill · cold · stick · band · clip · saw · bay · stand

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — a video
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. saw — the tool
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. drill — a practice
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. drill — army training
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. band — a ring
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. clip — for paper
  17. drill — the tool
  18. stand — to bear
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. cold — an illness
  21. band — a music group
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. cold — not warm
  24. saw — the tool

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