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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: tube · hand · cell · bore · drill · clip · mouse · cold

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. cold — an illness
  3. clip — for paper
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. clip — to cut
  7. drill — a practice
  8. tube — a container
  9. drill — army training
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. tube — the underground
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. bore — to tire
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. hand — in cards
  18. drill — the tool
  19. bore — to drill
  20. cell — a phone
  21. hand — help
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. mouse — the animal

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