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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  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 — ground
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. land — to come down
  5. bound — obliged
  6. bound — certain
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. chair — a leader
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. perch — the fish
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. bound — tied together
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. bat — the animal
  21. foot — a measure
  22. wound — an injury
  23. chair — to sit on
  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