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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. track — a path
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. present — there
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. land — to come down
  8. wind — moving air
  9. present — a gift
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. wind — moving air
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. track — to keep track
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — a box
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. saw — the tool
  20. chest — of your body
  21. track — a song
  22. land — a country
  23. saw — the tool
  24. present — the time now

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