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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 like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. chest — of your body
  5. season — in sport
  6. charge — a price
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — a subject
  9. scale — in music
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. dip — to sink
  14. field — farmland
  15. season — of the year
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. land — to come down
  18. charge — electricity
  19. land — ground
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chip — for betting
  22. scale — size or range
  23. chest — a box
  24. charge — in control

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