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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: mark · clip · content · drill · kid · last · fork · bear

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. drill — army training
  5. mark — a grade
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. fork — in a road
  8. bear — the animal
  9. clip — for paper
  10. kid — to tease
  11. last — final
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — happy
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. last — to go on
  17. bear — the animal
  18. mark — a trace
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. drill — a practice
  21. last — finally
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. kid — child
  24. drill — the tool

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