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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cap — a lid
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. mine — for digging
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — in biology
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. land — to come down
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — army training
  15. cap — a hat
  16. row — a line
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. row — to paddle
  19. cap — of ice
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. land — ground
  23. deal — to handle
  24. land — a country

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