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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. file — a tool
  3. spring — a coil
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cap — a lid
  6. land — to come down
  7. cap — of ice
  8. rule — a law
  9. game — wild animals
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. pop — music
  13. land — ground
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. file — a document
  16. rule — government
  17. spring — of water
  18. file — a line of people
  19. game — a match
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. land — a country
  22. pop — soda
  23. pop — to visit
  24. spring — the season

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