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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — a city
  4. spell — a short time
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — a country
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. spell — letters
  10. cell — a phone
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. toast — bread
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. wind — moving air
  17. capital — money
  18. mine — for digging
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. spell — magic
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. cell — in biology
  24. wind — moving air

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