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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 like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. sharp — clever
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. land — ground
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. prune — to trim
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. present — the time now
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. prune — to trim
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. land — a country
  18. present — a gift
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. mine — for digging
  22. present — there
  23. bat — the animal
  24. land — to come down

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