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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: kid · clip · hand · row · bulb · cell · rest · drill

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. rest — what's left
  3. drill — army training
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. cell — a phone
  6. row — a line
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. row — to paddle
  9. drill — the tool
  10. clip — for paper
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bulb — for light
  13. rest — what's left
  14. hand — in cards
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. kid — to tease
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. hand — help
  21. cell — in biology
  22. kid — child
  23. bulb — for light
  24. drill — a practice

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