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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 · nail · spell · pop · tear · sharp · snap · land

  1. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. clip — for paper
  4. pop — music
  5. sharp — clever
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. snap — to click
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. pop — to visit
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. tear — from crying
  13. spell — letters
  14. clip — a video
  15. land — ground
  16. spell — magic
  17. spell — a short time
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. pop — soda
  20. tear — to rip
  21. clip — to cut
  22. tear — from crying
  23. land — a country
  24. land — to come down

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