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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. shower — rain
  3. net — in sport
  4. wax — to grow
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. land — a country
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. bound — tied together
  10. mine — for digging
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. land — to come down
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. net — after costs
  17. bound — certain
  18. rush — hurry
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. net — for catching
  21. bound — obliged
  22. shower — to wash
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. rush — to hurry

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