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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. saw — the tool
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. capital — a city
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — for catching
  11. land — a country
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. land — to come down
  14. net — after costs
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. scale — size or range
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. saw — the tool
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. scale — in music
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. bat — the animal
  24. capital — money

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