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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: patient · clip · present · last · mug · tube · bark · drill

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. mug — a cup
  3. last — final
  4. mug — to rob
  5. drill — army training
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. mug — a face
  8. clip — a video
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. tube — a container
  11. tube — the underground
  12. present — there
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. last — finally
  15. clip — to cut
  16. drill — a practice
  17. clip — for paper
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. last — to go on
  20. present — a gift
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — to shout
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. present — the time now

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