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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 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. band — a ring
  3. can — a tin
  4. cue — a signal
  5. cue — a hint
  6. land — to come down
  7. land — ground
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. degree — an amount
  10. can — to be able to
  11. can — a tin
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. degree — from a university
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. cold — an illness
  20. band — a music group
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cue — for pool
  23. wax — to grow
  24. degree — temperature

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