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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.

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: nail · wave · hand · chest · rest · bat · mine · spring

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  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. spring — the season
  2. spring — of water
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. hand — help
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. rest — what's left
  10. chest — a box
  11. rest — what's left
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. hand — in cards
  15. bat — the animal
  16. chest — of your body
  17. rest — a break
  18. mine — for digging
  19. spring — a coil
  20. chest — of your body
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. bat — in an idiom
  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