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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chest · clip · coach · sharp · last · wind · nail · mine

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. last — finally
  6. wind — moving air
  7. chest — of your body
  8. clip — for paper
  9. last — to go on
  10. mine — for digging
  11. chest — of your body
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. clip — a video
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. last — final
  20. chest — a box
  21. clip — to cut
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. sharp — clever

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