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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. wind — moving air
  3. ground — the earth
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. ground — crushed
  6. wind — moving air
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. game — a match
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. ground — a position
  12. land — ground
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. mark — a grade
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. land — a country
  17. game — wild animals
  18. mark — a trace

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