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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. spring — a coil
  5. land — to come down
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. row — a line
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. foot — a measure
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. file — a document
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. row — to paddle
  18. spring — of water
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. file — a tool
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. spring — the season
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. file — a line of people

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