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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. chest — of your body
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. vault — a safe
  10. fork — in a road
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. root — the cause
  14. snap — to click
  15. chest — a box
  16. present — the time now
  17. land — to come down
  18. present — a gift
  19. present — there
  20. root — of a plant
  21. land — ground
  22. land — a country
  23. root — of a word
  24. chest — of your body

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