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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 120 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: wound · field · game · clip · club · bore · staff · nail

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. field — farmland
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. game — wild animals
  8. clip — to cut
  9. club — a group
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bore — to tire
  12. clip — for paper
  13. field — for sport
  14. club — for dancing
  15. game — a match
  16. staff — a stick
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. club — for golf
  19. staff — employees
  20. bore — to drill
  21. clip — a video
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. field — a subject
  24. staff — employees

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