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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 116 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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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: bass · fall · hand · nail · clip · bear · staff · row

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. bear — the animal
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — the season
  6. staff — employees
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. staff — employees
  9. bear — the animal
  10. hand — help
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. staff — a stick
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. row — to paddle
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — a video
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. fall — to drop
  23. bass — low music
  24. bass — the fish

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