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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. lean — thin
  6. march — the month
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spring — the season
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. spring — of water
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. march — music
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. lean — to bend
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. march — the month
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. land — a country
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. mine — for digging
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. deal — to handle
  24. land — to come down

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