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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. saw — the tool
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. drill — a practice
  5. current — electric
  6. row — a line
  7. current — of water
  8. row — to paddle
  9. saw — the tool
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. present — a gift
  12. tear — from crying
  13. drill — army training
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. present — the time now
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. current — happening now
  19. tear — to rip
  20. cold — not warm
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. cold — an illness
  23. branch — a division
  24. present — there

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