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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. land — to come down
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. ball — a great time
  6. saw — the tool
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. fall — to drop
  9. land — ground
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a dance
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. land — a country
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. fall — the season
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. fall — to drop
  21. saw — the tool
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. mine — for digging

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