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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: firm · land · craft · capital · mine · clip · tube · chest

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. capital — money
  4. clip — a video
  5. craft — boats
  6. land — a country
  7. tube — a container
  8. tube — the underground
  9. land — to come down
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. capital — a city
  13. clip — for paper
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. chest — a box
  16. craft — a skill
  17. firm — steady
  18. land — ground
  19. chest — of your body
  20. firm — decided
  21. clip — to cut
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. chest — of your body
  24. firm — a company

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