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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: net · clip · spell · wound · spring · last · object · mark

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. clip — a video
  3. net — in sport
  4. mark — a grade
  5. last — to go on
  6. last — final
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. object — an aim
  9. spell — letters
  10. spell — a short time
  11. spring — the season
  12. wound — an injury
  13. clip — for paper
  14. object — a thing
  15. spell — magic
  16. net — for catching
  17. spring — of water
  18. wound — an injury
  19. clip — to cut
  20. object — to protest
  21. last — finally
  22. spring — a coil
  23. mark — a trace
  24. net — after costs

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