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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. march — music
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. bore — to drill
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — to cut
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. march — the month
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. prune — to trim
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. march — the month
  18. bore — to tire
  19. hand — in cards
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. clip — for paper
  22. sharp — clever
  23. pound — a weight
  24. mouse — the animal

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