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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.

Make a worksheet

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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. land — a country
  3. wind — moving air
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. net — after costs
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. snap — to click
  10. land — to come down
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. chair — a leader
  13. net — for catching
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. net — in sport
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. land — ground

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