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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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. land — to come down
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. band — a ring
  5. squash — to crush
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. spell — magic
  9. land — ground
  10. land — a country
  11. squash — the sport
  12. drill — a practice
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. perch — the fish
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. bore — to tire
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — army training
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. spell — a short time
  22. spell — letters
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. band — a music group

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