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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. net — after costs
  5. object — to protest
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. cold — an illness
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. march — music
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. object — a thing
  17. net — in sport
  18. mine — for digging
  19. clip — to cut
  20. net — for catching
  21. object — an aim
  22. cold — not warm
  23. clip — a video
  24. cold — the Cold War

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