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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. rash — hasty
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. board — a committee
  6. rash — a series
  7. land — to come down
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. land — ground
  11. spell — a short time
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. spell — magic
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. spell — letters
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. board — to get on
  19. scale — in music
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. scale — size or range
  24. board — a flat piece

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