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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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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: bulb · chest · nail · cap · mine · land · fine · dip

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fine — all right
  3. chest — a box
  4. land — a country
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. dip — to sink
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bulb — for light
  9. mine — for digging
  10. cap — of ice
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. cap — a hat
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. chest — of your body
  17. land — to come down
  18. cap — a lid
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. land — ground
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. chest — of your body

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