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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.

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: lean · land · game · file · dip · wound · mine · chair

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. land — ground
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. lean — to bend
  7. wound — an injury
  8. mine — for digging
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. file — a line of people
  12. lean — thin
  13. dip — to sink
  14. land — a country
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. game — a match
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a leader
  19. land — to come down
  20. game — wild animals
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a document
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. game — a kind of play

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