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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 train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. object — an aim
  5. cold — an illness
  6. stand — to bear
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. fork — in a road
  11. object — to protest
  12. toast — bread
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. cold — not warm
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. object — a thing
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. land — to come down
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. land — a country
  24. cold — the Cold War

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