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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: land · pop · tube · sharp · spell · tear · chest · nail

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. land — to come down
  3. chest — a box
  4. chest — of your body
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. spell — magic
  8. tube — the underground
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pop — to visit
  11. tear — to rip
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. pop — music
  14. tube — a container
  15. pop — soda
  16. spell — a short time
  17. sharp — clever
  18. spell — letters
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. land — ground
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. tear — from crying
  23. chest — of your body
  24. land — a country

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