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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. ground — crushed
  3. ground — a position
  4. ground — the earth
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. land — a country
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. tube — the underground
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. game — a match
  14. net — in sport
  15. tube — a container
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. wound — an injury
  18. net — after costs
  19. chair — a leader
  20. wound — an injury
  21. land — ground
  22. net — for catching
  23. game — wild animals
  24. chair — a professorship

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