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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 116 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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. drill — army training
  5. land — ground
  6. squash — to crush
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. drill — a practice
  10. squash — the sport
  11. land — to come down
  12. present — the time now
  13. mine — for digging
  14. drill — the tool
  15. rash — a series
  16. rash — hasty
  17. land — a country
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. present — a gift
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. bat — the animal
  22. present — there
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — a jug

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