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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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  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. staff — a stick
  3. chest — of your body
  4. capital — a city
  5. spell — magic
  6. staff — employees
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. plane — a tool
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. spell — a short time
  15. spell — letters
  16. fine — all right
  17. chest — of your body
  18. capital — money
  19. fine — high quality
  20. chest — a box
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. mine — for digging
  23. staff — employees
  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