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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 116 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: deal · cell · land · mine · chair · key · scale · net

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. scale — size or range
  3. chair — a leader
  4. land — to come down
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. cell — a phone
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — after costs
  11. key — the most important part
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. key — for a lock
  14. scale — in music
  15. cell — in biology
  16. net — for catching
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. key — in music
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — for digging
  21. land — ground
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. land — a country
  24. deal — to handle

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