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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 120 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. march — music
  7. sharp — clever
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. clip — a video
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. clip — to cut
  17. snap — to click
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. tube — a container
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tube — in a tire

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