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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: spring · mine · wax · rule · rest · clip · bass · nail

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. rule — government
  3. rest — what's left
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. wax — to grow
  8. spring — the season
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. bass — the fish
  11. spring — a coil
  12. mine — for digging
  13. rest — a break
  14. bass — low music
  15. clip — a video
  16. spring — of water
  17. rest — what's left
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. rule — a law
  24. mine — an explosive

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