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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: mine · wind · land · wound · hand · can · nail · squash

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wind — moving air
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. can — to be able to
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. land — ground
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. wind — moving air
  10. hand — in cards
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — for digging
  13. hand — help
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. squash — to crush
  17. can — a tin
  18. can — a tin
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. squash — the sport
  22. land — a country
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. hand — part of the body

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