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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 reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. roll — a list
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. ground — the earth
  5. mine — for digging
  6. cap — a lid
  7. ground — a position
  8. cap — a hat
  9. bound — certain
  10. ground — crushed
  11. land — to come down
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — to wash
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. roll — a cake
  17. bulb — for light
  18. bound — obliged
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. land — ground
  21. bulb — for light
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. land — a country
  24. cap — of ice

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