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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. current — of water
  3. suit — to fit
  4. clip — a video
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. court — of law
  7. date — the fruit
  8. court — for sport
  9. clip — to cut
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — a line
  13. suit — in cards
  14. row — to paddle
  15. wound — an injury
  16. clip — for paper
  17. court — of a king
  18. current — happening now
  19. current — electric
  20. suit — clothes
  21. wound — an injury
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — ground
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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