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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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Word bank
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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: object · chest · scale · mine · fan · wind · deal · capital

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. scale — in music
  3. capital — a city
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. object — a thing
  6. mine — for digging
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. wind — moving air
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. capital — money
  11. chest — a box
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. chest — of your body
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. deal — to handle
  17. wind — moving air
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. object — to protest
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. chest — of your body
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. scale — size or range
  24. object — an aim

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