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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. land — a country
  3. chair — a leader
  4. land — to come down
  5. hand — in cards
  6. chest — of your body
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. squash — to crush
  9. fine — high quality
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. fine — all right
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. chest — a box
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wind — moving air
  20. squash — the sport
  21. wind — moving air
  22. land — ground
  23. hand — help
  24. squash — the vegetable

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