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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: coach · perch · clip · saw · bore · fall · drill · face

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. bore — to tire
  5. drill — the tool
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — the season
  8. clip — a video
  9. drill — a practice
  10. saw — the tool
  11. fall — to drop
  12. face — to confront
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. clip — to cut
  16. drill — army training
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. clip — for paper
  19. face — part of the head
  20. bore — to drill
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. perch — the fish
  24. face — to point toward

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