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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: charge · mate · last · drill · clip · pound · bore · tear

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. mate — a partner
  3. mate — a friend
  4. last — final
  5. tear — from crying
  6. drill — the tool
  7. charge — electricity
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. tear — to rip
  10. charge — in control
  11. tear — from crying
  12. mate — to breed
  13. last — finally
  14. pound — a weight
  15. bore — to tire
  16. clip — for paper
  17. charge — a price
  18. drill — a practice
  19. drill — army training
  20. clip — a video
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. bore — to drill
  24. last — to go on

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