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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. land — ground
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. field — farmland
  8. land — to come down
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. rock — music
  12. ground — crushed
  13. land — a country
  14. band — a ring
  15. cue — a hint
  16. rock — a stone
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — a subject
  20. ground — the earth
  21. cue — for pool
  22. cue — a signal
  23. band — a music group
  24. mine — for digging

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