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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. land — to come down
  3. root — the cause
  4. file — a line of people
  5. band — a ring
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. root — of a plant
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. saw — the tool
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. file — a document
  14. dip — to sink
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. land — ground
  17. file — a tool
  18. root — of a word
  19. band — a music group
  20. land — a country
  21. mine — for digging
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. cabinet — ministers

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