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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. lean — thin
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mine — for digging
  5. chest — of your body
  6. rest — what's left
  7. wind — moving air
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. land — ground
  10. lean — to bend
  11. land — to come down
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. chair — a leader
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. land — a country
  19. rest — a break
  20. rest — what's left
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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