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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. chair — a leader
  3. clip — for paper
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. row — to paddle
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. pound — a weight
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. snap — to click
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. rest — what's left
  16. clip — to cut
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. row — a line
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. rest — what's left
  21. clip — a video
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. rest — a break
  24. nail — on a finger

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