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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. land — ground
  3. land — to come down
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. saw — the tool
  7. land — a country
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. saw — the tool
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. court — of a king
  12. bore — to tire
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. mine — for digging
  16. court — of law
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. sharp — clever
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bore — to drill
  23. court — for sport
  24. bulb — for light

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