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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: saw · clip · capital · mate · straw · nail · court · wound

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. capital — a city
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. capital — money
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — to breed
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wound — an injury
  11. saw — the tool
  12. mate — a friend
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. court — of a king
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. wound — an injury
  18. court — of law
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. saw — the tool
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — a video
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. court — for sport

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