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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: cabinet · wound · mine · land · tear · rush · bay · ground

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. tear — from crying
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. tear — to rip
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. rush — hurry
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. land — a country
  11. tear — from crying
  12. mine — for digging
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. land — to come down
  21. ground — a position
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. land — ground
  24. ground — the earth

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