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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 116 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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. fine — high quality
  3. land — a country
  4. tube — the underground
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. fine — all right
  8. last — finally
  9. drill — army training
  10. last — to go on
  11. net — for catching
  12. tube — a container
  13. last — final
  14. net — in sport
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. net — after costs
  18. land — ground
  19. drill — a practice
  20. drill — the tool
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. land — to come down
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. pitcher — a jug

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