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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: pop · swing · cold · mouse · clip · tube · nail · mark

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. tube — the underground
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — for paper
  5. pop — to visit
  6. cold — an illness
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. swing — music
  10. pop — soda
  11. clip — to cut
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. swing — to play on
  14. pop — music
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. mark — a grade
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mark — a trace
  21. swing — in golf
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. tube — a container

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