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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. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. land — a country
  3. board — a committee
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — not warm
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. field — a subject
  8. saw — the tool
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. board — to get on
  14. field — farmland
  15. land — to come down
  16. cold — an illness
  17. chip — for betting
  18. chip — to eat
  19. land — ground
  20. saw — the tool
  21. chest — a box
  22. field — for sport
  23. lie — to recline
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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