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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. roll — a cake
  3. sharp — clever
  4. roll — a list
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. race — humankind
  7. race — a contest
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. land — to come down
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. date — the fruit
  12. snap — to click
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. row — a line
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. row — to paddle
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. land — ground
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. race — the arms race
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. sharp — exactly

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