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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — a stick
  3. rock — music
  4. land — ground
  5. dip — to sink
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — for sport
  8. rock — a stone
  9. shower — to wash
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. ground — the earth
  12. land — to come down
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. land — a country
  18. ground — crushed
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. field — farmland
  21. staff — employees
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. shower — rain
  24. ground — a position

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