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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. net — in sport
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. rule — a law
  7. game — a match
  8. degree — an amount
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. degree — from a university
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. rule — government
  13. degree — temperature
  14. mine — for digging
  15. net — after costs
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. net — for catching
  18. ground — a position
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. ground — crushed
  21. game — wild animals
  22. ground — the earth
  23. land — ground
  24. land — to come down

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