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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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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 · stick · cell · last · spring · scale · nail · row

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. clip — for paper
  3. cell — in biology
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. spring — a coil
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. spring — the season
  10. row — a line
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. row — to paddle
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. cell — a phone
  16. last — final
  17. last — finally
  18. spring — of water
  19. scale — in music
  20. last — to go on
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. scale — size or range
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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