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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. land — a country
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. season — of the year
  5. mine — for digging
  6. present — there
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. charge — electricity
  10. land — to come down
  11. fall — to drop
  12. charge — in control
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. present — a gift
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. land — ground
  18. present — the time now
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — the season
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. charge — a price
  24. season — in sport

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