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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 116 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: spring · lean · tube · nail · bat · clip · face · craft

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. tube — the underground
  3. craft — boats
  4. lean — to bend
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. face — to confront
  9. lean — thin
  10. face — part of the head
  11. spring — a coil
  12. bat — the animal
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. face — to point toward
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. spring — of water
  19. tube — a container
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. craft — a skill
  24. spring — the season

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