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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 116 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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. wound — an injury
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. land — to come down
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. land — ground
  12. swing — in golf
  13. stem — to come from
  14. court — of a king
  15. bat — the animal
  16. wound — an injury
  17. squash — the sport
  18. swing — music
  19. squash — to crush
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. chair — a leader
  22. court — for sport
  23. swing — to play on
  24. court — of law

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