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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. cap — a lid
  3. pitch — completely
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. hand — in cards
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. land — ground
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. last — final
  13. last — to go on
  14. hand — help
  15. mine — for digging
  16. cap — of ice
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. wind — moving air
  21. land — to come down
  22. cap — a hat
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. last — finally

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