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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: last · pitcher · snap · band · fall · squash · land · mine

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. land — ground
  3. last — finally
  4. fall — to drop
  5. band — a music group
  6. band — a ring
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. squash — to crush
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. squash — the sport
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. fall — the season
  15. snap — to click
  16. mine — for digging
  17. land — a country
  18. last — final
  19. land — to come down
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. last — to go on
  24. squash — the vegetable

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