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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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. scale — for weighing
  4. lean — thin
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. hand — in cards
  7. scale — size or range
  8. plane — a tool
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. scale — in music
  11. capital — a city
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. cold — not warm
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. cold — an illness
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. lean — to bend
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. hand — help
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. capital — money

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