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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. present — a gift
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. squash — the sport
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. land — to come down
  9. game — a match
  10. present — the time now
  11. game — wild animals
  12. squash — to crush
  13. scale — in music
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. scale — size or range
  16. object — an aim
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. wound — an injury
  19. land — a country
  20. object — to protest
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. wound — an injury
  23. object — a thing
  24. present — there

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