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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: sharp · net · file · wound · spring · rash · bore · clip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. spring — of water
  3. sharp — clever
  4. file — a tool
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. wound — an injury
  7. net — after costs
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. spring — a coil
  11. rash — a series
  12. wound — an injury
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. net — for catching
  15. spring — the season
  16. bore — to drill
  17. bore — to tire
  18. rash — hasty
  19. clip — a video
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. net — in sport
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a document
  24. clip — to cut

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