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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.

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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: fall · nail · spell · chair · rule · hand · pop · mine

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. spell — a short time
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. pop — soda
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — in cards
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. rule — government
  12. fall — to drop
  13. pop — to visit
  14. pop — music
  15. spell — magic
  16. mine — for digging
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. fall — the season
  19. fall — to drop
  20. rule — a law
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. chair — a leader
  24. chair — to sit on

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