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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: arm · spring · clip · bore · land · tear · nail · straw

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. bore — to drill
  3. clip — for paper
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. tear — from crying
  7. land — a country
  8. clip — to cut
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. spring — a coil
  13. land — to come down
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. land — ground
  18. tear — to rip
  19. spring — of water
  20. clip — a video
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. bore — to tire
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. nail — on a finger

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