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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. cap — a lid
  3. cap — a hat
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. land — ground
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. saw — the tool
  11. cap — of ice
  12. file — a document
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. chest — of your body
  15. stock — shares
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. stock — goods
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. file — a line of people
  20. land — to come down
  21. file — a tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. stock — a soup base

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