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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mine · pitch · land · tube · rest · spell · snap · fine

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. rest — a break
  3. spell — a short time
  4. mine — for digging
  5. tube — a container
  6. land — to come down
  7. land — ground
  8. pitch — completely
  9. spell — magic
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. rest — what's left
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. snap — to click
  14. tube — the underground
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. fine — all right
  22. rest — what's left
  23. fine — high quality
  24. land — a country

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