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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. land — a country
  4. pound — a weight
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — a box
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. field — for sport
  10. charge — electricity
  11. land — to come down
  12. land — ground
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. field — a subject
  15. chest — of your body
  16. net — after costs
  17. field — farmland
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. wake — a trail
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. charge — in control
  23. net — in sport
  24. charge — a price

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