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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: clip · tube · land · spring · pitcher · pass · net · nail

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  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 — for paper
  2. spring — of water
  3. tube — a container
  4. net — in sport
  5. spring — the season
  6. tube — the underground
  7. land — a country
  8. spring — a coil
  9. net — after costs
  10. clip — to cut
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. land — to come down
  18. pass — a permit
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. land — ground
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. clip — a video
  23. net — for catching
  24. nail — on a finger

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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