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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 124 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: land · bark · drill · ball · arm · lean · clip · tear

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. drill — army training
  3. tear — to rip
  4. clip — for paper
  5. land — ground
  6. clip — a video
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. ball — a great time
  9. ball — a dance
  10. bark — to shout
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. drill — the tool
  14. tear — from crying
  15. land — to come down
  16. drill — a practice
  17. lean — thin
  18. lean — to bend
  19. tear — from crying
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. land — a country
  24. clip — to cut

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