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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: land · chip · chest · ground · saw · ball · lean · bat

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. land — a country
  3. lean — thin
  4. lean — to bend
  5. land — ground
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. chip — to eat
  9. ball — a dance
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. bat — the animal
  13. chest — a box
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. chip — for betting
  18. ground — a position
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — the earth
  21. land — to come down
  22. saw — the tool
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. saw — the tool

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