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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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Word bank
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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: nail · hand · chest · clip · bore · cabinet · cell · toast

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. cell — a phone
  3. bore — to drill
  4. clip — a video
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. clip — to cut
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cell — in biology
  12. bore — to tire
  13. chest — a box
  14. chest — of your body
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. clip — for paper
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. hand — in cards
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. hand — help

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