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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. rest — a break
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. land — a country
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. bound — tied together
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. band — a ring
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — a series
  16. band — a music group
  17. wake — a trail
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. saw — the tool
  20. bound — obliged
  21. land — to come down
  22. rest — what's left
  23. saw — the tool
  24. bound — certain

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