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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bear — the animal
  5. drill — the tool
  6. land — to come down
  7. land — a country
  8. clip — for paper
  9. drill — army training
  10. drill — a practice
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. sharp — clever
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. clip — a video
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. land — ground
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bear — the animal
  20. clip — to cut
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. bat — for baseball

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