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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. land — ground
  3. file — a line of people
  4. file — a tool
  5. land — to come down
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. root — of a plant
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. root — the cause
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wax — to grow
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. bulb — for light
  17. cold — an illness
  18. root — of a word
  19. can — a tin
  20. bat — the animal
  21. file — a document
  22. can — a tin
  23. bulb — for light
  24. can — to be able to

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