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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. fine — high quality
  4. board — to get on
  5. board — a committee
  6. spring — a coil
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. fine — all right
  10. land — to come down
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — in a road
  13. rock — music
  14. spring — the season
  15. chest — of your body
  16. land — a country
  17. spring — of water
  18. chest — of your body
  19. rock — a stone
  20. plane — a tool
  21. chest — a box
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. plane — an aircraft

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