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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. wind — moving air
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. field — farmland
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. land — ground
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — for light
  14. chair — a leader
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. field — a subject
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. wind — moving air
  21. field — for sport
  22. land — a country
  23. land — to come down
  24. mine — for digging

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