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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: lean · bore · rest · pitcher · wake · land · game · cold

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. rest — what's left
  3. land — ground
  4. rest — a break
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. lean — thin
  8. game — a match
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. game — wild animals
  15. cold — not warm
  16. lean — to bend
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. bore — to tire
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bore — to drill
  21. wake — a trail
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. rest — what's left
  24. land — to come down

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