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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 drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — a video
  5. net — in sport
  6. club — a group
  7. clip — to cut
  8. net — after costs
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. fall — to drop
  11. game — a match
  12. club — for golf
  13. game — wild animals
  14. net — for catching
  15. sharp — clever
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. fall — to drop
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. drill — army training
  21. drill — a practice
  22. club — for dancing
  23. drill — the tool
  24. fall — the season

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