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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: straw · cold · present · wave · date · nail · clip · plane

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. plane — a tool
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. present — the time now
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. cold — an illness
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. clip — for paper
  22. date — the fruit
  23. present — there
  24. present — a gift

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