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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. drill — the tool
  3. clip — a video
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. clip — to cut
  7. drill — a practice
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fork — in a road
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. wound — an injury
  14. spring — of water
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. bark — to shout
  18. kick — in football
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. spring — a coil
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. spring — the season
  24. wound — an injury

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