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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: fine · spring · land · row · tear · capital · staff · nail

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. capital — money
  4. land — to come down
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. land — a country
  7. spring — the season
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. tear — from crying
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. staff — employees
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. fine — high quality
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. row — to paddle
  16. staff — a stick
  17. spring — of water
  18. tear — to rip
  19. land — ground
  20. staff — employees
  21. row — a line
  22. tear — from crying
  23. spring — a coil
  24. capital — a city

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