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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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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 · saw · cold · pit · clip · cell · cabinet · lash

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. clip — to cut
  3. pit — in a race
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. cold — not warm
  6. clip — for paper
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. saw — the tool
  12. cell — a phone
  13. saw — the tool
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. cold — an illness
  22. clip — a video
  23. pit — a hole
  24. cold — the Cold War

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