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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: scale · clip · last · drill · bound · straw

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. bound — obliged
  4. last — final
  5. clip — a video
  6. drill — army training
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. drill — the tool
  9. bound — certain
  10. last — finally
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. drill — a practice
  13. bound — tied together
  14. clip — to cut
  15. last — to go on
  16. scale — size or range
  17. scale — in music
  18. clip — for paper

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