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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. mug — to rob
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wind — moving air
  5. land — to come down
  6. mug — a cup
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. saw — the tool
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. mug — a face
  14. sharp — clever
  15. land — ground
  16. degree — from a university
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. saw — the tool
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. degree — an amount
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. degree — temperature

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