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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: deal · clip · pound · mine · saw · plane · hand · game

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. saw — the tool
  3. game — wild animals
  4. clip — for paper
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. hand — in cards
  7. mine — for digging
  8. pound — a weight
  9. saw — the tool
  10. plane — a tool
  11. hand — help
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. clip — to cut
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. deal — to handle
  20. game — a match
  21. clip — a video
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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