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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. tear — from crying
  3. sharp — clever
  4. land — a country
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. land — to come down
  7. plane — a tool
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. tear — to rip
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. cell — in biology
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. cell — a phone
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. last — finally
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. last — final
  22. last — to go on
  23. tear — from crying
  24. plane — in geometry

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