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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: roll · ground · mine · pit · chest · game · nail · tear

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. ground — the earth
  5. game — a match
  6. mine — for digging
  7. chest — a box
  8. roll — a list
  9. ground — crushed
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. tear — from crying
  13. game — wild animals
  14. ground — a position
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. tear — to rip
  17. chest — of your body
  18. roll — a cake
  19. chest — of your body
  20. pit — in a race
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pit — a hole
  24. nail — on a finger

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