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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.

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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: court · wind · ruler · drill · date · stick · straw · mine

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  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. drill — a practice
  2. wind — moving air
  3. date — the fruit
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. court — for sport
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. court — of a king
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. drill — army training
  19. mine — for digging
  20. wind — moving air
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. court — of law
  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