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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. land — ground
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. fork — in a road
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. shower — rain
  7. scale — size or range
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a document
  10. drill — the tool
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. land — to come down
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. drill — army training
  16. bound — certain
  17. drill — a practice
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. file — a tool
  20. bound — tied together
  21. scale — in music
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. bound — obliged
  24. shower — to wash

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