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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. mine — for digging
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. object — a thing
  5. object — to protest
  6. wind — moving air
  7. land — to come down
  8. ground — crushed
  9. land — a country
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. land — ground
  12. rash — a series
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rash — hasty
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. object — an aim
  17. march — music
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. ground — the earth
  22. march — the month
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. march — the month

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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