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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 120 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. foot — a measure
  3. rest — what's left
  4. spring — of water
  5. net — after costs
  6. rest — what's left
  7. land — ground
  8. rest — a break
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. spring — the season
  12. tube — a container
  13. tube — the underground
  14. net — in sport
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. land — a country
  17. degree — an amount
  18. net — for catching
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. degree — temperature
  23. spring — a coil
  24. degree — from a university

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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