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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. clip — to cut
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. cap — a lid
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. chest — a box
  10. mark — a grade
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cap — a hat
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. ground — a position
  15. hand — help
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. clip — a video
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. cap — of ice
  20. mark — a trace
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. ground — the earth
  23. ground — crushed
  24. hand — in cards

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