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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 120 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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. clip — for paper
  3. root — of a word
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. file — a tool
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. drill — army training
  8. drill — the tool
  9. bore — to tire
  10. scale — size or range
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. file — a document
  13. present — there
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. scale — in music
  16. present — the time now
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. clip — a video
  19. root — of a plant
  20. present — a gift
  21. clip — to cut
  22. root — the cause
  23. bore — to drill
  24. file — a line of people

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