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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. land — to come down
  5. court — of law
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. land — ground
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. court — of a king
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. land — a country
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. court — for sport

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