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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 116 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: staff · deal · mark · clip · racket · wind · net · drill

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. clip — for paper
  5. staff — a stick
  6. mark — a trace
  7. drill — army training
  8. staff — employees
  9. wind — moving air
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. net — after costs
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. clip — to cut
  15. mark — a grade
  16. drill — a practice
  17. net — for catching
  18. clip — a video
  19. wind — moving air
  20. staff — employees
  21. deal — to handle
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. net — in sport
  24. drill — the tool

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