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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chest — a box
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. chest — of your body
  7. court — of a king
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. court — of law
  11. pass — a permit
  12. plane — a tool
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. court — for sport
  16. rock — a stone
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. rock — music
  22. chest — of your body
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. mine — for digging

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