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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. object — a thing
  3. land — to come down
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bank — for money
  7. file — a document
  8. bank — of a river
  9. land — a country
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. deal — to handle
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. game — a match
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. object — to protest
  18. object — an aim
  19. bank — for money
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — the animal
  22. file — a tool
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. file — a line of people

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