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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: drill · dip · clip · land · date · bass · ground · tear

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. drill — a practice
  4. clip — for paper
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bass — low music
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. drill — the tool
  10. land — to come down
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. tear — from crying
  13. ground — crushed
  14. clip — to cut
  15. dip — to sink
  16. clip — a video
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. drill — army training
  19. date — the fruit
  20. land — a country
  21. land — ground
  22. bass — the fish
  23. ground — the earth
  24. ground — a position

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