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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.

Make a worksheet

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: rush · cold · cap · drill · court · squash · lie · clip

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. clip — for paper
  3. drill — a practice
  4. lie — to recline
  5. drill — the tool
  6. cold — an illness
  7. clip — to cut
  8. squash — the sport
  9. court — for sport
  10. cold — not warm
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. court — of a king
  13. cap — a hat
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. clip — a video
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cap — a lid
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. court — of law
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. squash — to crush
  22. cap — of ice
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. drill — army training

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