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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. pound — a weight
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. land — to come down
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. lean — to bend
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. last — to go on
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. land — a country
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. lean — thin
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. last — finally
  23. bat — the animal
  24. last — final

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