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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: patient · bore · bowl · land · clip · last · nail · file

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. last — to go on
  6. land — to come down
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a document
  10. bore — to drill
  11. file — a line of people
  12. clip — for paper
  13. last — final
  14. clip — a video
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. land — a country
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. last — finally
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. bore — to tire
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. land — ground

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