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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: straw · mine · drill · clip · kid · pit · root · land

  1. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. pit — a hole
  3. land — a country
  4. drill — a practice
  5. clip — a video
  6. drill — the tool
  7. land — to come down
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. drill — army training
  10. kid — to tease
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. kid — child
  13. root — of a word
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. root — the cause
  16. clip — for paper
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. clip — to cut
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. pit — in a race
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. land — ground
  24. mine — for digging

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