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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. net — in sport
  3. land — ground
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bat — the animal
  6. tube — the underground
  7. net — after costs
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. land — to come down
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — for light
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. game — a match
  18. net — for catching
  19. tube — a container
  20. board — a committee
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. land — a country

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