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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. tear — to rip
  3. tear — from crying
  4. pop — to visit
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. land — ground
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. cold — an illness
  9. land — to come down
  10. sharp — clever
  11. present — the time now
  12. pop — music
  13. perch — the fish
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. cold — not warm
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. present — there
  19. pop — soda
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. present — a gift
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. tear — from crying

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