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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — temperature
  4. file — a tool
  5. cap — a hat
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. land — ground
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. chair — a leader
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. file — a line of people
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. land — to come down
  14. cap — a lid
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. degree — an amount
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. sharp — clever
  20. file — a document
  21. cap — of ice
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. hide — to keep secret

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