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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. wound — an injury
  3. spell — letters
  4. bore — to tire
  5. land — to come down
  6. last — finally
  7. staff — employees
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. land — ground
  10. last — final
  11. chest — of your body
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bore — to drill
  14. last — to go on
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. staff — employees
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chair — a leader
  20. staff — a stick
  21. spell — magic
  22. spell — a short time
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. bore — gave birth

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