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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. wound — an injury
  6. drill — army training
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. drill — a practice
  9. clip — to cut
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. mine — for digging
  14. rush — hurry
  15. drill — the tool
  16. wound — an injury
  17. clip — a video
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. clip — for paper
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. saw — the tool
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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