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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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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 · court · jam · clip · swing · ruler · capital · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. clip — a video
  4. tear — from crying
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. clip — to cut
  7. court — of law
  8. court — for sport
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. tear — to rip
  13. swing — in golf
  14. court — of a king
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — money
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. swing — music
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. swing — to play on
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. clip — for paper
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. capital — a big letter

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