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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. net — in sport
  4. land — ground
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. land — a country
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. season — in sport
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. mine — for digging
  16. net — after costs
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. wax — to grow
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. net — for catching
  22. wound — an injury
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. land — to come down

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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