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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. drill — the tool
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. bound — certain
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. staff — a stick
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. cold — not warm
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bound — obliged
  14. staff — employees
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. branch — a division
  17. drill — a practice
  18. staff — employees
  19. content — the amount
  20. drill — army training
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. content — happy
  24. branch — of a tree

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