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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. land — ground
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. land — a country
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. game — wild animals
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. kid — to tease
  9. stock — goods
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. squash — the sport
  14. season — in sport
  15. stock — shares
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. wax — to grow
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. game — a match
  21. kid — child
  22. season — of the year
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. stock — a soup base

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