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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — to cut
  5. cell — in biology
  6. tube — the underground
  7. cell — a phone
  8. staff — employees
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. clip — for paper
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. mine — for digging
  15. staff — employees
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. staff — a stick
  18. tube — a container

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