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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — to come down
  3. chest — of your body
  4. last — to go on
  5. staff — employees
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. last — finally
  11. last — final
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. staff — employees
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cold — an illness
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. chest — a box
  18. staff — a stick
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mug — a face
  22. mug — to rob
  23. mug — a cup
  24. land — a country

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