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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 got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. fine — all right
  3. land — ground
  4. land — to come down
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. land — a country
  7. cell — a phone
  8. deal — to handle
  9. mate — to breed
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. clip — a video
  16. mate — a partner
  17. fine — high quality
  18. mate — a friend
  19. cell — in biology
  20. chair — a leader
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. clip — for paper
  24. clip — to cut

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