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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 · tube · sharp · spring · coach · net · ball · nail

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. ball — a great time
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. clip — to cut
  6. sharp — clever
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. net — for catching
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — a video
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — the season
  15. ball — a dance
  16. net — in sport
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. tube — the underground
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. spring — of water
  22. tube — a container
  23. net — after costs
  24. sharp — exactly

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