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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: drill · clip · swing · bore · game · cap · ball · pit

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. ball — a dance
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. cap — of ice
  5. drill — army training
  6. ball — a great time
  7. pit — a hole
  8. swing — music
  9. pit — in a race
  10. swing — in golf
  11. clip — for paper
  12. game — wild animals
  13. cap — a hat
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bore — to drill
  17. cap — a lid
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. game — a match
  22. swing — to play on
  23. clip — a video
  24. bore — to tire

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