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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · wind · snap · nail · can · track

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. kid — to tease
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. can — to be able to
  5. track — to keep track
  6. snap — to click
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. can — a tin
  13. can — a tin
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. track — a path
  16. kid — child
  17. track — a song
  18. wind — moving air

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