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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. land — ground
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. wind — moving air
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. game — wild animals
  9. shower — rain
  10. sharp — clever
  11. land — a country
  12. game — a match
  13. land — to come down
  14. shower — to wash
  15. key — in music
  16. bulb — for light
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. key — for a lock
  19. bulb — for light
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. mine — for digging
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. key — the most important part

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