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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. land — ground
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. mine — for digging
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. firm — steady
  7. kick — in football
  8. fork — in a road
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. firm — decided
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. firm — a company
  24. land — to come down

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