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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.

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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: mine · bank · snap · capital · plane · fan · straw · row

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. capital — a city
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. bank — for money
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. bank — for money
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. capital — money
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bank — of a river
  14. row — a line
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. row — to paddle
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. plane — a tool
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. snap — to click

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