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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: content · hand · ground · bore · straw · clip · rule · drill

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. ground — crushed
  4. drill — the tool
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. bore — to tire
  8. drill — army training
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. ground — a position
  11. rule — a law
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. clip — for paper
  14. drill — a practice
  15. bore — to drill
  16. content — the amount
  17. content — happy
  18. clip — to cut
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. ground — the earth
  21. hand — in cards
  22. clip — a video
  23. rule — government
  24. bore — gave birth

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