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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. bass — the fish
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — what's left
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. ground — a position
  10. hand — help
  11. roll — a list
  12. shower — rain
  13. ground — crushed
  14. bass — low music
  15. mine — for digging
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. hand — in cards
  18. roll — a cake
  19. rest — a break
  20. ground — the earth
  21. land — to come down
  22. land — ground
  23. land — a country
  24. shower — to wash

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