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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. shower — rain
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. object — an aim
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. cold — not warm
  7. clip — to cut
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. pop — music
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. clip — a video
  15. pop — soda
  16. land — ground
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — to trim
  19. object — a thing
  20. land — to come down
  21. object — to protest
  22. pop — to visit
  23. shower — to wash
  24. clip — for paper

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