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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: ground · fine · dip · clip · bark · mine · nail · prune

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. clip — a video
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. ground — a position
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. bark — to shout
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. fine — high quality
  12. clip — for paper
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. prune — to trim
  15. fine — all right
  16. ground — the earth
  17. clip — to cut
  18. dip — to sink
  19. prune — to trim
  20. mine — for digging
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. ground — crushed
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. nail — for a hammer

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