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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: fan · pound · foot · bore · snap · shower · bound · clip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. snap — to click
  3. bore — to tire
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bore — to drill
  6. shower — to wash
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. foot — a measure
  10. bound — certain
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. shower — rain
  18. clip — a video
  19. pound — a weight
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. bound — tied together
  24. clip — to cut

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