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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 124 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. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. can — to be able to
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — a country
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — crushed
  9. can — a tin
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. clip — a video
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. clip — to cut
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. rock — a stone
  16. can — a tin
  17. wound — an injury
  18. ground — a position
  19. rock — music
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. bat — the animal
  23. clip — for paper
  24. wound — an injury

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