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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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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: bass · drill · pound · clip · chest · saw · tube · mark

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. pound — a weight
  3. drill — army training
  4. mark — a trace
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. chest — a box
  7. tube — the underground
  8. saw — the tool
  9. chest — of your body
  10. clip — a video
  11. chest — of your body
  12. drill — the tool
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. tube — a container
  16. clip — to cut
  17. bass — low music
  18. mark — a grade
  19. clip — for paper
  20. saw — the tool
  21. drill — a practice
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. bass — the fish
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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