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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. court — of law
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. clip — to cut
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. clip — a video
  8. rule — a law
  9. bore — to drill
  10. land — to come down
  11. court — of a king
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. rule — government
  15. court — for sport
  16. mine — for digging
  17. land — ground
  18. clip — for paper
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. swing — in golf
  21. bore — to tire
  22. swing — music
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. swing — to play on

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