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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. land — to come down
  4. spell — letters
  5. bear — the animal
  6. kick — in football
  7. bear — the animal
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — for paper
  10. spell — a short time
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. land — a country
  13. spell — magic
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. tube — a container
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. drill — a practice
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. land — ground
  22. drill — the tool
  23. tube — the underground
  24. clip — a video

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