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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: clip · tear · court · march · degree · nail · saw · bank

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. bank — of a river
  3. clip — for paper
  4. degree — temperature
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bank — for money
  7. bank — for money
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. march — music
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. march — the month
  12. court — of a king
  13. saw — the tool
  14. march — the month
  15. degree — from a university
  16. court — of law
  17. clip — a video
  18. tear — from crying
  19. saw — the tool
  20. tear — from crying
  21. court — for sport
  22. degree — an amount
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. tear — to rip

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