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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — a country
  3. rock — music
  4. rock — a stone
  5. wound — an injury
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. track — to keep track
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wound — an injury
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. track — a path
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. bulb — for light
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. face — part of the head
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. bulb — for light
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. cold — not warm
  20. face — to point toward
  21. face — to confront
  22. land — to come down
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. track — a song

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