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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. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. clip — to cut
  3. drill — army training
  4. bank — for money
  5. pound — a weight
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bore — to drill
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. bat — the animal
  12. clip — for paper
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bore — to tire
  16. drill — the tool
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. drill — a practice
  21. bank — of a river
  22. clip — a video
  23. shower — rain
  24. nail — for a hammer

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