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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 116 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: race · sharp · rest · nail · key · fan · tear · clip

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. tear — from crying
  5. rest — a break
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. sharp — clever
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. race — the arms race
  10. key — in music
  11. clip — to cut
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. rest — what's left
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. tear — from crying
  17. clip — for paper
  18. race — a contest
  19. tear — to rip
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. race — humankind
  22. rest — what's left
  23. key — the most important part
  24. key — for a lock

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