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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 116 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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. key — for a lock
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. game — wild animals
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. squash — the sport
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. mine — for digging
  13. squash — to crush
  14. land — to come down
  15. clip — for paper
  16. land — a country
  17. pitch — completely
  18. game — a match
  19. clip — to cut
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. clip — a video
  22. key — in music
  23. key — the most important part
  24. fan — to cool the air

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