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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. clip — a video
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. mine — for digging
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. press — newspapers
  12. press — to push
  13. snap — to click
  14. bass — low music
  15. tear — to rip
  16. clip — to cut
  17. press — a publisher
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. tear — from crying
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. bass — the fish
  23. tear — from crying
  24. sharp — clever

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