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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 120 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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. clip — to cut
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. firm — steady
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. bat — the animal
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. firm — decided
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. firm — a company
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — a video
  18. bat — for baseball

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