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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 124 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 drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. rush — hurry
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. toast — bread
  8. court — of law
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. land — a country
  12. wind — moving air
  13. land — to come down
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. pit — a hole
  16. court — for sport
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pit — in a race
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. chest — a box
  23. court — of a king
  24. rush — to hurry

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