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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: shower · mate · clip · drill · racket · snap · season · tube

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. tube — a container
  3. season — in sport
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. clip — a video
  6. season — of the year
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. mate — to breed
  9. drill — army training
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. tube — the underground
  12. mate — a friend
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. mate — a partner
  16. clip — for paper
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. drill — a practice
  19. shower — to wash
  20. snap — to click
  21. shower — rain
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. drill — the tool
  24. clip — to cut

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