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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. chair — a leader
  6. drill — the tool
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. content — happy
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. drill — army training
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. lie — to recline
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. content — the amount
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. drill — a practice
  22. land — to come down
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. land — ground

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