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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. snap — to click
  3. band — a music group
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. wake — a trail
  7. chip — for betting
  8. land — to come down
  9. band — a ring
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. land — a country
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. chip — to eat
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. prune — to trim
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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