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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — a country
  3. toast — bread
  4. court — for sport
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. pitch — completely
  8. prune — to trim
  9. land — to come down
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. wound — an injury
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. court — of a king
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. wound — an injury
  20. prune — to trim
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. court — of law
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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