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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 116 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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. content — the amount
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — to cut
  6. drill — army training
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. land — a country
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. clip — for paper
  12. drill — the tool
  13. land — ground
  14. mine — for digging
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. content — happy
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. land — to come down
  22. drill — a practice
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — a straw man

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