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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: land · deal · wound · toast · pit · wind · cap · chest

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. wind — moving air
  4. land — to come down
  5. chest — a box
  6. wind — moving air
  7. deal — to handle
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. pit — in a race
  10. cap — of ice
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cap — a hat
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. toast — bread
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — of your body
  21. land — a country
  22. pit — a hole
  23. cap — a lid
  24. wound — an injury

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