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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  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. game — wild animals
  2. land — to come down
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. fall — the season
  5. tube — the underground
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. tube — a container
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. game — a match
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. land — a country
  13. fall — to drop
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. fall — to drop
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. pass — a permit
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. pass — to succeed
  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