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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. wound — an injury
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. squash — the sport
  6. mine — for digging
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rest — what's left
  10. stem — to come from
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. saw — the tool
  14. land — to come down
  15. rest — a break
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. wound — an injury
  20. dip — to sink
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. land — a country
  23. squash — to crush
  24. saw — the tool

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