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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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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: wound · drill · roll · calf · fork · tear · mouse · clip

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. roll — a cake
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. drill — army training
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. clip — for paper
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. roll — a list
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. wound — an injury
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. drill — a practice
  18. drill — the tool
  19. tear — from crying
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — to cut
  22. tear — to rip
  23. mouse — the animal
  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