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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. spell — magic
  3. chest — a box
  4. shower — rain
  5. game — a match
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. game — wild animals
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cell — in biology
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. suit — to fit
  12. spell — a short time
  13. cell — a phone
  14. land — a country
  15. spell — letters
  16. suit — clothes
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. shower — to wash
  20. land — to come down
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. suit — in cards
  24. chest — of your body

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