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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. game — a match
  3. firm — a company
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. land — ground
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. land — a country
  8. bat — the animal
  9. land — to come down
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. net — after costs
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. net — in sport
  14. firm — steady
  15. rash — a series
  16. game — wild animals
  17. rash — hasty
  18. mine — for digging
  19. net — for catching
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. firm — decided
  24. mine — belonging to me

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