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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: clip · mine · last · game · lean · face · arm · nail

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. game — a match
  3. clip — to cut
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. mine — for digging
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to point toward
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. game — wild animals
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. face — to confront
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. last — finally
  15. lean — thin
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. clip — for paper
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. lean — to bend
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. clip — a video
  23. last — to go on
  24. mine — an explosive

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