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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. land — to come down
  3. saw — the tool
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. charge — in control
  7. charge — a price
  8. charge — electricity
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. land — a country
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mine — for digging
  15. land — ground
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. saw — the tool
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. fall — the season
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. fork — in a road
  24. mine — an explosive

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