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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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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: tear · row · straw · drill · bore · perch · rule · cold

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. bore — to drill
  3. drill — the tool
  4. rule — government
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bore — to tire
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. tear — to rip
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. rule — a law
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. tear — from crying
  17. drill — a practice
  18. tear — from crying
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. drill — army training
  23. perch — the fish
  24. row — to paddle

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