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

Word bank: wave · mate · pass · land · snap · swing · drill · mine

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. mate — to breed
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. snap — to click
  5. pass — a permit
  6. mate — a friend
  7. land — ground
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. mate — a partner
  11. drill — the tool
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. mine — for digging
  14. land — to come down
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. drill — a practice
  18. drill — army training
  19. swing — music
  20. swing — to play on
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. swing — in golf

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