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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: clip · rock · spell · field · pit · object · shower · nail

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. object — an aim
  3. pit — in a race
  4. spell — letters
  5. object — a thing
  6. object — to protest
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. pit — a hole
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. field — for sport
  11. shower — to wash
  12. field — a subject
  13. rock — a stone
  14. clip — for paper
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. spell — a short time
  20. field — farmland
  21. spell — magic
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. shower — rain

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