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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. cold — not warm
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fall — the season
  6. drill — the tool
  7. track — to keep track
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. track — a song
  10. mine — for digging
  11. fall — to drop
  12. rock — music
  13. track — a path
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. drill — a practice
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. rock — a stone
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. drill — army training
  23. fall — to drop
  24. cold — an illness

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