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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 116 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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. key — for a lock
  3. file — a line of people
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. can — to be able to
  8. file — a tool
  9. key — the most important part
  10. land — ground
  11. file — a document
  12. wound — an injury
  13. land — a country
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. land — to come down
  16. chair — a leader
  17. mine — for digging
  18. wound — an injury
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. can — a tin
  21. can — a tin
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. key — in music

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