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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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468
Word bank
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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 sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. degree — temperature
  5. net — in sport
  6. clip — for paper
  7. degree — an amount
  8. tear — from crying
  9. race — a contest
  10. race — humankind
  11. degree — from a university
  12. clip — a video
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. net — for catching
  15. wind — moving air
  16. tear — to rip
  17. rest — what's left
  18. tear — from crying
  19. rest — a break
  20. race — the arms race
  21. wind — moving air
  22. rest — what's left
  23. clip — to cut
  24. net — after costs

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