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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 116 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: drill · cold · stand · clip · spell · tear · plane · field

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. field — a subject
  3. cold — an illness
  4. tear — from crying
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. plane — a tool
  7. clip — for paper
  8. drill — army training
  9. spell — letters
  10. drill — a practice
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. stand — to bear
  13. spell — a short time
  14. cold — not warm
  15. tear — to rip
  16. drill — the tool
  17. spell — magic
  18. tear — from crying
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. field — farmland
  21. field — for sport
  22. clip — to cut
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. stand — for spectators

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