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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: fall · drill · sharp · clip · content · cold · root · deal

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. fall — to drop
  3. drill — army training
  4. deal — to handle
  5. drill — the tool
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. fall — the season
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. root — of a plant
  10. drill — a practice
  11. root — of a word
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. sharp — clever
  14. content — happy
  15. clip — for paper
  16. root — the cause
  17. cold — not warm
  18. clip — a video
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. content — the amount
  21. cold — an illness
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. fall — to drop
  24. cold — the Cold War

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