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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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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: stem · nail · march · cold · clip · toast · snap · chip

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. toast — bread
  4. march — the month
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. march — music
  8. snap — to click
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. stem — to come from
  13. clip — for paper
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. clip — a video
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. chip — for betting
  19. march — the month
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. cold — not warm
  22. chip — to eat
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. nail — on a finger

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