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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: nail · mark · clip · race · file · bound · shower · cue

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bound — certain
  3. shower — rain
  4. bound — obliged
  5. cue — a signal
  6. mark — a trace
  7. cue — a hint
  8. file — a tool
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — to wash
  12. file — a document
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — a contest
  15. cue — for pool
  16. clip — a video
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. bound — tied together
  19. mark — a grade
  20. file — a line of people
  21. clip — to cut
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. race — the arms race
  24. nail — for a hammer

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