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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. net — for catching
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. hand — help
  6. land — to come down
  7. mine — for digging
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cue — for pool
  11. land — ground
  12. cue — a hint
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. cue — a signal
  18. wound — an injury
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. land — a country
  21. capital — a city
  22. foot — a measure
  23. capital — money
  24. mine — belonging to me

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