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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. spring — the season
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. saw — the tool
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. hand — help
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. land — a country
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. plane — a tool
  13. land — to come down
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. wound — an injury
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — a coil
  18. saw — the tool
  19. hand — in cards
  20. dip — to sink
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. dip — to dunk

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