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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: mug · ground · drill · clip · temple · pop · cold · board

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. ground — a position
  3. board — a committee
  4. drill — army training
  5. mug — a cup
  6. clip — for paper
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. mug — a face
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. ground — crushed
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — the tool
  14. mug — to rob
  15. board — to get on
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. pop — to visit
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pop — soda
  20. ground — the earth
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pop — music
  24. clip — a video

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