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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. land — a country
  3. ground — crushed
  4. mine — for digging
  5. march — music
  6. ground — the earth
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. mate — a partner
  9. march — the month
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. land — ground
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. march — the month
  17. mate — to breed
  18. mate — a friend
  19. pitch — completely
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. land — to come down
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. trunk — of a tree

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