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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. wound — an injury
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. pop — music
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. last — final
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. clip — for paper
  10. pass — a permit
  11. pop — soda
  12. pop — to visit
  13. dip — to sink
  14. last — to go on
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. snap — to click
  19. clip — a video
  20. last — finally
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. clip — to cut
  23. wound — an injury
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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