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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 116 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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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: nail · rush · snap · file · bark · mine · sharp · drill

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. bark — to shout
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. drill — army training
  6. mine — for digging
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. snap — to click
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. drill — a practice
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. file — a tool
  15. drill — the tool
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. rush — hurry
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. sharp — clever
  20. file — a line of people
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. file — a document
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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