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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: charge · ground · land · present · lean · cold · squash · net

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. land — to come down
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — a position
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. ground — crushed
  8. present — the time now
  9. squash — the sport
  10. charge — electricity
  11. present — a gift
  12. charge — in control
  13. lean — to bend
  14. present — there
  15. land — a country
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. land — ground
  18. net — for catching
  19. net — after costs
  20. charge — a price
  21. cold — not warm
  22. squash — to crush
  23. cold — an illness
  24. net — in sport

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