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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. cap — of ice
  4. cap — a hat
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. land — to come down
  7. rule — a law
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. sharp — clever
  10. wind — moving air
  11. spring — a coil
  12. rule — government
  13. spring — the season
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. spring — of water
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. land — a country
  21. land — ground
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — a match
  24. cap — a lid

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