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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mine · ground · cold · mouse · pop · chair · fork · land

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. ground — a position
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. land — ground
  5. land — to come down
  6. pop — soda
  7. ground — the earth
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. pop — to visit
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. cold — an illness
  13. chair — a leader
  14. pop — music
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. mine — for digging
  17. ground — crushed
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fork — in a road
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. land — a country
  24. cold — not warm

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