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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: drill · pitch · clip · tear · bowl · band · land · rule

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. band — a music group
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. drill — army training
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. tear — from crying
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. drill — a practice
  10. land — to come down
  11. rule — government
  12. tear — to rip
  13. rule — a law
  14. land — ground
  15. pitch — completely
  16. band — a ring
  17. drill — the tool
  18. land — a country
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. clip — for paper
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. clip — to cut
  24. tear — from crying

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