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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 120 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 · hand · squash · land · wound · chair · root · trunk

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. root — of a word
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wound — an injury
  9. root — of a plant
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. squash — to crush
  14. squash — the sport
  15. hand — help
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. chair — a leader
  18. land — ground
  19. land — a country
  20. root — the cause
  21. land — to come down
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — for digging
  24. wound — an injury

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