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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. track — to keep track
  3. track — a song
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ground — the earth
  6. bark — to shout
  7. drill — a practice
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. drill — army training
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. track — a path
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. clip — a video
  14. mug — a face
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. mug — to rob
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pound — a weight
  21. clip — for paper
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. mug — a cup
  24. ground — a position

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