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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: cold · capital · leaves · mine · file · scale · nail · racket

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. mine — for digging
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. file — a line of people
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — size or range
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. file — a document
  20. file — a tool
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — money
  24. cold — not warm

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