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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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. nail — for a hammer
  4. can — to be able to
  5. press — to push
  6. can — a tin
  7. cold — not warm
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. last — final
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — for paper
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. press — a publisher
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. clip — a video
  17. perch — the fish
  18. last — finally
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. last — to go on
  21. can — a tin
  22. press — newspapers
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. cold — an illness

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