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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. ground — crushed
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. squash — to crush
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. land — to come down
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. rash — hasty
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. rash — a series
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. ground — the earth
  17. land — ground
  18. squash — the sport
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. land — a country
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. ground — a position
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fork — a garden tool

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