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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 120 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: mine · file · chest · capital · tear · branch · drill · game

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. file — a line of people
  4. tear — from crying
  5. file — a tool
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. capital — a city
  8. capital — money
  9. game — wild animals
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. mine — for digging
  13. drill — army training
  14. game — a match
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — the tool
  18. tear — to rip
  19. branch — a division
  20. file — a document
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. tear — from crying
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — of your 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