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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. ground — a position
  3. ground — the earth
  4. club — a group
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. club — for dancing
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. ground — crushed
  14. bat — the animal
  15. hand — help
  16. land — to come down
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. hand — in cards
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. club — for golf
  23. march — music
  24. land — a country

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