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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. row — to paddle
  4. land — a country
  5. race — a contest
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. ball — a great time
  8. land — to come down
  9. race — the arms race
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. row — a line
  13. spring — the season
  14. ball — a dance
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. race — humankind
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. spring — of water
  21. fine — high quality
  22. fine — all right
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. spring — a coil

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