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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. present — a gift
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. present — there
  6. present — the time now
  7. land — to come down
  8. land — ground
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. ground — the earth
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. clip — for paper
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. wind — moving air
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. land — a country
  18. clip — to cut
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. plane — a tool
  22. wind — moving air
  23. clip — a video
  24. ground — crushed

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