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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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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: fork · rule · straw · drill · ruler · clip · court · pound

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. court — for sport
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. court — of a king
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. drill — a practice
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. rule — government
  10. court — of law
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. clip — for paper
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. drill — the tool
  17. clip — to cut
  18. drill — army training
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. fork — in a road
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. clip — a video
  24. pound — a weight

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