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

Word bank: pound · content · drill · foot · pop · tear · last · clip

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. last — finally
  3. last — final
  4. last — to go on
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. pop — music
  7. drill — a practice
  8. content — the amount
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pound — a weight
  12. clip — for paper
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — army training
  15. foot — a measure
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. clip — to cut
  18. pop — soda
  19. content — happy
  20. tear — to rip
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. pop — to visit

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