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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. root — of a plant
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bound — tied together
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. season — in sport
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — help
  12. land — a country
  13. hand — in cards
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. season — of the year
  17. land — to come down
  18. bound — certain
  19. bass — the fish
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. bound — obliged
  22. root — the cause
  23. bass — low music
  24. root — of a word

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