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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: chair · ground · fine · stand · land · wind · leaves · tear

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. fine — high quality
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. land — to come down
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. tear — to rip
  8. land — a country
  9. ground — crushed
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. stand — to bear
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. tear — from crying
  15. chair — a leader
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wind — moving air
  20. ground — the earth
  21. ground — a position
  22. land — ground
  23. wind — moving air
  24. fine — all right

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