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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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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: bay · clip · racket · drill · squash · cell · object · cold

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. object — a thing
  5. clip — for paper
  6. squash — to crush
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cold — an illness
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. squash — the sport
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — a phone
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. object — an aim
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. clip — a video
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. clip — to cut
  21. drill — a practice
  22. drill — army training
  23. drill — the tool
  24. cold — not warm

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