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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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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. ball — a great time
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. pound — a weight
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. club — a group
  13. chip — to eat
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. ball — a dance
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. club — for dancing
  18. chip — for betting
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. clip — a video
  21. cold — an illness
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. club — for golf
  24. calf — a young animal

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