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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: fine · pitcher · row · mine · land · last · cell · mate

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. row — a line
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. land — to come down
  6. mine — for digging
  7. fine — high quality
  8. mate — a friend
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. last — final
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. last — to go on
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. mate — to breed
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. land — ground
  17. row — to paddle
  18. mate — a partner
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. cell — in biology
  21. land — a country
  22. fine — all right
  23. last — finally
  24. cell — a phone

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