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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 ________________ went through the wall.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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. march — the month
  4. clip — a video
  5. land — ground
  6. march — music
  7. march — the month
  8. current — happening now
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bore — to tire
  12. clip — for paper
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. hand — in cards
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. land — a country
  18. hand — help
  19. current — electric
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. land — to come down
  22. current — of water
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. bore — to drill

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