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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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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: ground · drill · mouse · scale · snap · wind · clip · firm

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. clip — to cut
  4. firm — a company
  5. firm — steady
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. drill — a practice
  8. ground — crushed
  9. snap — to click
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. firm — decided
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. wind — moving air
  15. drill — army training
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. drill — the tool
  18. ground — a position
  19. clip — for paper
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. wind — moving air
  22. scale — size or range
  23. scale — in music
  24. ground — the earth

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