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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 116 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  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 — to come down
  2. wind — moving air
  3. track — a song
  4. net — in sport
  5. net — for catching
  6. game — wild animals
  7. file — a line of people
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. track — to keep track
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. key — in music
  12. key — the most important part
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. land — ground
  15. key — for a lock
  16. track — a path
  17. file — a tool
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. net — after costs
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. wind — moving air
  22. game — a match
  23. file — a document
  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