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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: nail · bat · suit · game · prune · row · land · saw

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. suit — clothes
  4. saw — the tool
  5. row — a line
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. suit — to fit
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. land — to come down
  12. prune — to trim
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. saw — the tool
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. game — a match
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. bat — the animal
  20. suit — in cards
  21. game — wild animals
  22. land — ground
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. row — to paddle

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