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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.

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: saw · drill · bark · hand · straw · pit · band · swing

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. saw — the tool
  5. pit — a hole
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. swing — music
  8. band — a ring
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. swing — to play on
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. band — a music group
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — army training
  15. pit — in a race
  16. drill — the tool
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. bark — to shout
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. swing — in golf
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. hand — in cards
  23. saw — the tool
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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