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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. land — a country
  3. net — after costs
  4. bat — the animal
  5. ball — a dance
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cap — a lid
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. net — in sport
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. fork — in a road
  15. rash — a series
  16. cap — of ice
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. rash — hasty
  19. net — for catching
  20. lie — to recline
  21. ball — a great time
  22. land — ground
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. fork — to eat with

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