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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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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: staff · pound · clip · drill · mug · wound · sharp · land

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. land — ground
  3. land — to come down
  4. pound — a weight
  5. clip — to cut
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. clip — a video
  8. land — a country
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. mug — a cup
  12. staff — employees
  13. staff — employees
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — army training
  18. drill — the tool
  19. staff — a stick
  20. mug — to rob
  21. mug — a face
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — clever
  24. clip — for paper

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