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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: hand · bear · spring · straw · track · bat · wake · drill

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. drill — a practice
  3. track — a song
  4. hand — in cards
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. track — to keep track
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. hand — help
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — a coil
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. wake — a trail
  18. spring — of water
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. bear — the animal
  21. drill — army training
  22. track — a path
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. bat — the animal

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