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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. row — to paddle
  3. chip — for betting
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — to rip
  6. game — a match
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. game — wild animals
  9. tear — from crying
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. land — a country
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. chip — to eat
  15. row — a line
  16. date — the fruit
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. lean — to bend
  21. land — to come down
  22. land — ground
  23. lean — thin
  24. mine — for digging

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