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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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. cold — an illness
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. land — to come down
  6. fine — all right
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. bear — the animal
  9. field — farmland
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. field — for sport
  13. last — to go on
  14. lean — to bend
  15. lean — thin
  16. cold — not warm
  17. last — final
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. bear — the animal
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. field — a subject
  22. fine — high quality
  23. last — finally
  24. jam — in traffic

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