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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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. patient — calm and waiting
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bat — the animal
  7. chest — a box
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. fine — all right
  10. chest — of your body
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. fine — high quality
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. mine — for digging
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. dip — to sink
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. plane — a tool
  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