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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. rest — a break
  3. land — a country
  4. rest — what's left
  5. last — finally
  6. bound — obliged
  7. cap — of ice
  8. bound — certain
  9. bound — tied together
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. land — to come down
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. rest — what's left
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. cap — a hat
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mine — for digging
  18. last — final
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. last — to go on
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. cap — a lid
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a line

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