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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.

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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: ground · stand · kid · mate · land · net · wound · cell

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — a phone
  3. net — for catching
  4. land — a country
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. mate — a partner
  7. wound — an injury
  8. net — after costs
  9. kid — to tease
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. cell — in biology
  12. kid — child
  13. land — ground
  14. land — to come down
  15. ground — a position
  16. net — in sport
  17. wound — an injury
  18. ground — crushed
  19. mate — a friend
  20. mate — to breed
  21. ground — the earth
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. stand — to bear

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