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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. row — a line
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. hand — in cards
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. fine — high quality
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. row — to paddle
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. season — of the year
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. snap — to click
  17. fine — all right
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. season — in sport
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. date — the fruit
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. branch — a division

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