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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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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: clip · drill · rush · bat · band · last · ground · tear

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. clip — a video
  5. ground — the earth
  6. last — final
  7. rush — hurry
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — a position
  11. drill — the tool
  12. last — to go on
  13. bat — the animal
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. last — finally
  16. drill — a practice
  17. tear — from crying
  18. band — a ring
  19. band — a music group
  20. tear — from crying
  21. drill — army training
  22. tear — to rip
  23. clip — for paper
  24. rush — to hurry

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