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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 120 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. chest — of your body
  3. race — humankind
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. land — a country
  6. mine — for digging
  7. key — in music
  8. race — the arms race
  9. last — finally
  10. key — the most important part
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. race — a contest
  14. last — final
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. capital — money
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. capital — a city
  19. chest — a box
  20. land — to come down
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. key — for a lock
  23. last — to go on
  24. chest — of your body

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