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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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. mine — belonging to me
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. rule — government
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. mine — for digging
  8. hand — in cards
  9. track — to keep track
  10. row — a line
  11. content — happy
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. rule — a law
  14. row — to paddle
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. hand — help
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — to drop
  21. track — a song
  22. fall — the season
  23. track — a path
  24. content — the amount

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