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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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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 · wind · clip · key · ground · mouse · hand · pitcher

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. key — the most important part
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. hand — in cards
  6. wind — moving air
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — a position
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. clip — for paper
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. key — for a lock
  20. ground — the earth
  21. hand — help
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. key — in music
  24. clip — a video

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