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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. file — a tool
  3. land — a country
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. land — ground
  8. file — a document
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. rule — a law
  12. pit — in a race
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. wake — a trail
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. pit — a hole
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. land — to come down
  20. rule — government
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. file — a line of people
  24. calf — a young animal

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