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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 116 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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  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. land — ground
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. press — to push
  4. cap — of ice
  5. lie — to recline
  6. land — to come down
  7. scale — size or range
  8. scale — in music
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. wound — an injury
  13. land — a country
  14. cap — a hat
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. press — newspapers
  18. wound — an injury
  19. cap — a lid
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. press — a publisher
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. lie — an untruth
  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