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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: wind · clip · drill · tear · saw · cabinet · rash · pound

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pound — a weight
  9. drill — a practice
  10. wind — moving air
  11. drill — the tool
  12. rash — hasty
  13. drill — army training
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. saw — the tool
  16. clip — a video
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. clip — to cut
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. rash — a series
  24. tear — from crying

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