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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.

Make a worksheet

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: file · mine · cell · nail · plane · scale · capital · clip

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — a city
  4. file — a document
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. mine — for digging
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a line of people
  14. clip — a video
  15. plane — a tool
  16. scale — in music
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. capital — money
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. scale — size or range
  21. clip — to cut
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cell — in biology
  24. clip — for paper

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