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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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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: kid · march · nail · net · tear · chair · mouse · straw

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. tear — from crying
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. tear — to rip
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. net — after costs
  10. chair — a leader
  11. net — in sport
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. kid — to tease
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. march — music
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. kid — child
  20. tear — from crying
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. net — for catching
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. mouse — the animal

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