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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hand · spell · mine · kid · press · march · snap · nail

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. spell — letters
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. march — the month
  8. snap — to click
  9. press — to push
  10. press — newspapers
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. march — the month
  14. kid — child
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. march — music
  17. press — a publisher
  18. hand — help
  19. spell — magic
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. spell — a short time
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. hand — in cards

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