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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. spring — a coil
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. suit — clothes
  5. bass — low music
  6. spring — the season
  7. land — ground
  8. net — for catching
  9. swing — in golf
  10. net — in sport
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. land — to come down
  13. stem — to come from
  14. net — after costs
  15. spring — of water
  16. hand — help
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. swing — to play on
  20. hand — in cards
  21. swing — music
  22. suit — in cards
  23. suit — to fit
  24. bass — the fish

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