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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: clip · bore · hand · staff · capital · hide · snap · spring

  1. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. staff — employees
  3. clip — to cut
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. hand — help
  7. snap — to click
  8. clip — for paper
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. spring — of water
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. staff — employees
  13. clip — a video
  14. capital — money
  15. hand — in cards
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. bore — to tire
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. staff — a stick
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. capital — a city
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — 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