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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: net · pit · land · roll · hand · wound · leaves · cell

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. pit — in a race
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. land — to come down
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. net — in sport
  9. roll — a list
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — for catching
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. wound — an injury
  14. hand — in cards
  15. wound — an injury
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. land — ground
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. land — a country
  21. cell — in biology
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. pit — a hole
  24. leaves — lets stay

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