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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bat — the animal
  4. ball — a dance
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. land — to come down
  8. pit — in a race
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. land — a country
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. wind — moving air
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. land — ground
  19. plane — a tool
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pit — a hole

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