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

Word bank: wind · rock · capital · file · chair · nail

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. wind — moving air
  5. file — a tool
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. file — a document
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. capital — money
  10. file — a line of people
  11. rock — music
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wind — moving air
  14. chair — a leader
  15. rock — a stone
  16. capital — a city
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. chair — to sit on

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