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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. land — a country
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. suit — to fit
  5. suit — in cards
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — for catching
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. present — there
  11. file — a tool
  12. net — in sport
  13. cold — an illness
  14. file — a line of people
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. suit — clothes
  17. land — ground
  18. ball — a great time
  19. pound — a weight
  20. ball — a dance
  21. present — the time now
  22. present — a gift
  23. file — a document
  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