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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. clip — for paper
  4. content — happy
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bore — to drill
  7. spring — of water
  8. drill — a practice
  9. spring — a coil
  10. club — for dancing
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. club — for golf
  13. spring — the season
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. content — the amount
  17. drill — the tool
  18. drill — army training
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. club — a group
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. clip — a video
  23. bore — to tire
  24. patient — a sick person

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