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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. wind — moving air
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. current — of water
  6. root — of a word
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. shower — rain
  9. wind — moving air
  10. land — a country
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. land — ground
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. current — happening now
  16. root — the cause
  17. land — to come down
  18. mark — a trace
  19. root — of a plant
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. current — electric
  22. shower — to wash
  23. pit — in a race
  24. mark — a grade

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