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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: row · face · race · object · nail · capital · hand · mine

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. object — a thing
  3. capital — a city
  4. hand — in cards
  5. capital — money
  6. face — to point toward
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. race — the arms race
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. object — an aim
  12. row — a line
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. hand — help
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. race — humankind
  18. row — to paddle
  19. face — to confront
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. race — a contest
  24. face — part of the head

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