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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. pop — soda
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. capital — a city
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. capital — money
  11. land — to come down
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mine — for digging
  14. land — ground
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. pop — to visit
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pop — music
  24. wave — of the sea

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