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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. saw — the tool
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. sharp — clever
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bass — the fish
  9. saw — the tool
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. land — to come down
  14. tear — from crying
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. tear — from crying
  19. mine — for digging
  20. bass — low music
  21. land — a country
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. tear — to rip
  24. leaves — to go away

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