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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
468
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: mine · bark · straw · hand · club · hide · drill · sharp

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. club — a group
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. mine — for digging
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. sharp — clever
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. hand — in cards
  9. drill — army training
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. drill — a practice
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. club — for dancing
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. drill — the tool
  22. club — for golf
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bark — to shout

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