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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rule · swing · chest · nail · cell · mine

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. chest — of your body
  3. rule — government
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. cell — a phone
  7. rule — a law
  8. cell — in biology
  9. swing — music
  10. swing — to play on
  11. swing — in golf
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. chest — a box
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. chest — of your body
  18. rule — to rule out

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