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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. land — to come down
  3. pound — a weight
  4. land — ground
  5. cap — a hat
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cap — a lid
  11. track — to keep track
  12. capital — money
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. date — the fruit
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. capital — a city
  18. cap — of ice
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. track — a path
  21. track — a song
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. kick — in football
  24. capital — a big letter

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