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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: court · tear · mate · land · clip · drill · track · rush

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. clip — to cut
  3. mate — a partner
  4. track — a song
  5. drill — a practice
  6. mate — to breed
  7. land — ground
  8. drill — the tool
  9. land — a country
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. drill — army training
  13. court — of law
  14. mate — a friend
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. track — a path
  17. court — of a king
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. tear — from crying
  20. court — for sport
  21. track — to keep track
  22. tear — from crying
  23. rush — hurry
  24. tear — to rip

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