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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: bat · racket · mate · nail · hand · fan · clip · last

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  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. hand — in cards
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. clip — a video
  5. mate — a partner
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. mate — to breed
  8. bat — the animal
  9. hand — help
  10. last — to go on
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. last — final
  14. mate — a friend
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. clip — to cut
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. last — finally
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. nail — on a finger

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