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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: rush · clip · bank · march · trunk · season · straw · drill

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. clip — to cut
  4. drill — the tool
  5. drill — a practice
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. clip — a video
  8. march — music
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. bank — of a river
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. season — of the year
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. rush — hurry
  18. march — the month
  19. season — in sport
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. bank — for money
  22. bank — for money
  23. drill — army training
  24. march — the month

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