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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 116 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 · nail · clip · game · rule · track · fan · fine

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. fine — high quality
  4. clip — a video
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. track — to keep track
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. game — wild animals
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. rule — a law
  18. game — a match
  19. track — a path
  20. wound — an injury
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. track — a song
  23. fine — all right
  24. rule — government

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