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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: cabinet · cold · tear · land · sharp · foot · chest · nail

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cold — an illness
  10. tear — from crying
  11. chest — a box
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. sharp — clever
  15. cold — not warm
  16. foot — a measure
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — a country
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. land — ground

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