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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.

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: field · nail · file · mine · capital · lash · bass · deal

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. bass — the fish
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — farmland
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. capital — money
  11. mine — for digging
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. deal — to handle
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. bass — low music
  17. file — a line of people
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. field — for sport
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a tool

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