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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.

Make a worksheet

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
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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: march · ground · hand · mine · net · land · cabinet · scale

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. net — for catching
  3. scale — in music
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — for digging
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. land — a country
  9. march — the month
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. land — ground
  12. scale — size or range
  13. hand — in cards
  14. ground — a position
  15. net — in sport
  16. ground — crushed
  17. land — to come down
  18. march — the month
  19. net — after costs
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. hand — help
  22. ground — the earth
  23. march — music
  24. scale — for weighing

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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