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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.

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: land · chest · suit · can · scale · tear · cold · mine

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. suit — clothes
  3. chest — of your body
  4. suit — to fit
  5. suit — in cards
  6. can — a tin
  7. tear — to rip
  8. can — a tin
  9. land — a country
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. tear — from crying
  12. scale — size or range
  13. mine — for digging
  14. can — to be able to
  15. land — ground
  16. land — to come down
  17. cold — an illness
  18. scale — in music
  19. chest — of your body
  20. cold — not warm
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. chest — a box
  24. tear — from crying

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