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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: chest · clip · hide · mark · ruler · bear · drill · land

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. bear — the animal
  3. clip — for paper
  4. chest — of your body
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. bear — the animal
  7. drill — army training
  8. clip — to cut
  9. drill — the tool
  10. land — to come down
  11. mark — a trace
  12. land — ground
  13. drill — a practice
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. chest — of your body
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. chest — a box
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. land — a country
  23. clip — a video
  24. ruler — for measuring

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