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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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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: cold · mark · bore · clip · wake · pit · pound · nail

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. bore — to drill
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. pit — a hole
  6. clip — to cut
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. mark — a trace
  9. clip — a video
  10. mark — a grade
  11. clip — for paper
  12. pound — a weight
  13. pit — in a race
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. cold — not warm
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bore — to tire
  23. wake — a trail
  24. cold — the Cold War

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