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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. land — ground
  3. clip — a video
  4. capital — money
  5. land — to come down
  6. saw — the tool
  7. key — in music
  8. capital — a city
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. shower — to wash
  11. spell — magic
  12. key — the most important part
  13. spell — a short time
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. clip — for paper
  16. key — for a lock
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. saw — the tool
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. clip — to cut
  21. shower — rain
  22. game — a match
  23. spell — letters
  24. game — wild animals

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