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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: tube · wind · drill · pop · ruler · clip · bat · spring

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. drill — the tool
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. drill — army training
  6. pop — to visit
  7. wind — moving air
  8. spring — a coil
  9. pop — soda
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. pop — music
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — for paper
  17. drill — a practice
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. bat — the animal
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. tube — the underground
  23. tube — a container
  24. spring — of water

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