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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: wind · drill · clip · last · root · tear · mouse · key

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. key — in music
  4. last — final
  5. drill — a practice
  6. root — of a word
  7. drill — army training
  8. clip — to cut
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. last — to go on
  12. key — the most important part
  13. drill — the tool
  14. clip — for paper
  15. wind — moving air
  16. tear — to rip
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. root — of a plant
  19. last — finally
  20. wind — moving air
  21. tear — from crying
  22. root — the cause
  23. key — for a lock
  24. clip — a video

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