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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. track — to keep track
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. wax — to grow
  5. mine — for digging
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. land — to come down
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. ground — a position
  10. chip — for betting
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. track — a song
  15. land — a country
  16. pit — a hole
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — crushed
  19. land — ground
  20. chip — to eat
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. track — a path
  23. pit — in a race
  24. wax — for sculpting

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