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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. file — a line of people
  3. pound — a weight
  4. cell — a phone
  5. spring — the season
  6. file — a document
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. land — a country
  10. staff — employees
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. spring — of water
  13. file — a tool
  14. spring — a coil
  15. staff — employees
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. fine — high quality
  19. lie — to recline
  20. cell — in biology
  21. land — to come down
  22. staff — a stick
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. fine — all right

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