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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. land — a country
  4. ground — a position
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. land — ground
  8. ground — crushed
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. court — of a king
  13. snap — to click
  14. land — to come down
  15. ground — the earth
  16. chair — a leader
  17. court — for sport
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. court — of law
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. nail — for a hammer

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