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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. present — a gift
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. kid — to tease
  5. present — the time now
  6. degree — an amount
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. pound — a weight
  9. present — there
  10. degree — from a university
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. march — music
  13. rock — a stone
  14. march — the month
  15. prune — to trim
  16. kid — child
  17. rock — music
  18. prune — to trim
  19. march — the month
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. degree — temperature
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — ground

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