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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 120 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: row · clip · bore · hand · saw · drill · pop · perch

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. drill — army training
  6. pop — music
  7. drill — a practice
  8. hand — in cards
  9. row — to paddle
  10. saw — the tool
  11. bore — to tire
  12. clip — a video
  13. hand — help
  14. pop — soda
  15. row — a line
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. clip — to cut
  18. pop — to visit
  19. drill — the tool
  20. saw — the tool
  21. bore — to drill
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. clip — for paper
  24. perch — the fish

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