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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. capital — money
  3. fall — the season
  4. land — to come down
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. season — in sport
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. season — of the year
  9. mine — for digging
  10. fall — to drop
  11. land — a country
  12. bass — low music
  13. foot — a measure
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. fall — to drop
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. capital — a city
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. land — ground
  21. bass — the fish
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. foot — the bottom

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