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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 · cap · file · band · hide · tear · clip · hand

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. file — a line of people
  7. cap — a lid
  8. tear — from crying
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hand — help
  12. file — a document
  13. tear — to rip
  14. clip — for paper
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. clip — to cut
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. file — a tool
  19. clip — a video
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. band — a music group
  22. cap — a hat
  23. tear — from crying
  24. band — a ring

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