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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 120 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: bulb · drill · clip · race · file · march · vault · mug

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. drill — army training
  3. race — the arms race
  4. clip — to cut
  5. mug — to rob
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. march — the month
  8. clip — a video
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. mug — a face
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. file — a document
  13. drill — the tool
  14. race — a contest
  15. bulb — for light
  16. vault — a safe
  17. march — the month
  18. mug — a cup
  19. file — a line of people
  20. drill — a practice
  21. race — humankind
  22. march — music
  23. bulb — for light
  24. file — a tool

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