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

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. field — a subject
  3. mine — for digging
  4. rest — a break
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. bound — certain
  9. rest — what's left
  10. field — for sport
  11. bound — obliged
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. field — farmland
  14. rest — what's left
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. shower — rain
  18. bound — tied together
  19. land — to come down
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. shower — to wash
  24. land — a country

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