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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mark — a grade
  3. capital — a city
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. bulb — for light
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a music group
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. band — a ring
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bulb — for light
  14. capital — money
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mine — for digging
  18. cold — not warm
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. mark — a trace
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. nail — on a finger

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