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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. land — a country
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. hand — in cards
  5. row — to paddle
  6. dip — to sink
  7. hand — help
  8. spell — magic
  9. pit — a hole
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. spell — a short time
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. board — to get on
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. board — a committee
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. land — ground
  20. spell — letters
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. row — a line
  24. pit — in a race

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