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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: toast · row · pitcher · cold · fork · land · leaves · mine

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. land — ground
  4. land — a country
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. land — to come down
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. mine — for digging
  11. fork — in a road
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. toast — bread
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. row — to paddle
  21. cold — an illness
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. row — a line

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