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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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. land — ground
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. wind — moving air
  5. fine — high quality
  6. stem — to come from
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. ground — a position
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. pitch — completely
  12. fine — all right
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. wind — moving air
  18. land — a country
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. land — to come down
  21. drill — army training
  22. drill — a practice
  23. ground — crushed
  24. ground — the earth

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