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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: face · drill · wake · game · kick · clip · track · content

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. clip — for paper
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. game — a match
  5. drill — a practice
  6. kick — in football
  7. wake — a trail
  8. track — a song
  9. face — part of the head
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. face — to point toward
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. clip — a video
  14. track — to keep track
  15. game — wild animals
  16. clip — to cut
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. face — to confront
  19. content — the amount
  20. drill — army training
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. track — a path
  24. content — happy

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