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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. present — the time now
  5. land — a country
  6. wind — moving air
  7. present — a gift
  8. deal — to handle
  9. net — after costs
  10. net — in sport
  11. ground — a position
  12. net — for catching
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. land — to come down
  18. plane — a tool
  19. wind — moving air
  20. tear — from crying
  21. present — there
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. ground — the earth
  24. land — ground

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