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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 120 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: nail · spring · can · hand · wind · branch · pound · calf

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. can — to be able to
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. spring — a coil
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pound — a weight
  12. spring — of water
  13. hand — in cards
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. spring — the season
  16. can — a tin
  17. wind — moving air
  18. hand — help
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. can — a tin
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. branch — a division
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. pound — to hit hard

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