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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. land — to come down
  3. row — a line
  4. land — a country
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. chest — of your body
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. ground — a position
  10. ground — the earth
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — a box
  13. pop — soda
  14. pop — to visit
  15. band — a ring
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. pop — music
  21. band — a music group
  22. kick — in football
  23. row — to paddle
  24. land — ground

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