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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: cabinet · mine · can · ground · land · perch · bat · chair

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. land — to come down
  3. bat — the animal
  4. ground — a position
  5. mine — for digging
  6. ground — the earth
  7. land — a country
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. ground — crushed
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. can — a tin
  17. perch — the fish
  18. land — ground
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. chair — a leader
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. can — a tin
  24. bat — for baseball

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