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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. drill — a practice
  4. clip — to cut
  5. prune — to trim
  6. wake — a trail
  7. game — wild animals
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. game — a match
  11. prune — to trim
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. drill — army training
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. pound — a weight
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. clip — a video
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. clip — for paper
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. drill — the tool
  24. mouse — the animal

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