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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 116 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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. staff — employees
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. land — to come down
  8. ball — a dance
  9. bore — to drill
  10. shower — to wash
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. staff — employees
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. ball — a great time
  15. land — ground
  16. march — music
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. march — the month
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bore — to tire
  22. march — the month
  23. staff — a stick
  24. shower — rain

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