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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. land — a country
  6. bound — certain
  7. row — a line
  8. land — to come down
  9. bound — obliged
  10. fork — in a road
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. scale — size or range
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. wax — to grow
  21. row — to paddle
  22. scale — in music
  23. bound — tied together
  24. land — ground

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