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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: capital · chest · ground · mine · mouse · track · plane · file

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. chest — of your body
  3. track — to keep track
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. capital — a city
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. chest — of your body
  8. track — a path
  9. file — a document
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. capital — money
  12. plane — a tool
  13. ground — the earth
  14. file — a line of people
  15. chest — a box
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. ground — crushed
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. ground — a position
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. track — a song
  23. file — a tool
  24. mine — for digging

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