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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. track — a path
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. land — to come down
  5. track — to keep track
  6. track — a song
  7. land — ground
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. chip — to eat
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. fine — high quality
  13. chip — for betting
  14. shower — to wash
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a ring
  18. fine — all right
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. land — a country
  22. band — a music group
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. shower — rain

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