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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 · tube · clip · pit · lie · cold · nail · suit

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. clip — to cut
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. cold — not warm
  6. lie — to recline
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. suit — in cards
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. suit — to fit
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — army training
  14. clip — a video
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tube — the underground
  18. pit — a hole
  19. pit — in a race
  20. drill — a practice
  21. clip — for paper
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. cold — an illness
  24. suit — clothes

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