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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 116 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 · straw · spell · pound · land · saw · clip · lean

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. spell — magic
  3. spell — letters
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — the tool
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. drill — army training
  10. drill — a practice
  11. drill — the tool
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. land — ground
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. spell — a short time
  16. clip — for paper
  17. lean — thin
  18. lean — to bend
  19. land — to come down
  20. clip — to cut
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. land — a country
  23. clip — a video
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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