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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: arm · bound · clip · kid · drill · fine · wake · rest

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. kid — to tease
  4. fine — all right
  5. drill — a practice
  6. clip — a video
  7. rest — what's left
  8. drill — army training
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — certain
  16. bound — tied together
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. kid — child
  19. rest — what's left
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. fine — high quality
  22. wake — a trail
  23. rest — a break
  24. drill — 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