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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 120 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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. wind — moving air
  3. spell — letters
  4. face — to point toward
  5. land — to come down
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. land — a country
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. court — of law
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. spell — magic
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. court — for sport
  16. face — to confront
  17. chip — for betting
  18. face — part of the head
  19. court — of a king
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chip — to eat
  23. snap — to click
  24. spell — a short time

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