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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: saw · net · land · wind · suit · band · lean · bat

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. saw — the tool
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. net — for catching
  5. suit — clothes
  6. lean — to bend
  7. net — after costs
  8. wind — moving air
  9. suit — in cards
  10. band — a ring
  11. band — a music group
  12. land — ground
  13. suit — to fit
  14. wind — moving air
  15. land — a country
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. saw — the tool
  23. net — in sport
  24. land — to come down

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