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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 116 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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. row — a line
  4. chip — to eat
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — a video
  7. chip — for betting
  8. spring — the season
  9. row — to paddle
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. shower — rain
  13. clip — for paper
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. snap — to click
  23. spring — a coil
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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