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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 120 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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. rule — government
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. land — ground
  7. wake — a trail
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. bat — the animal
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. lie — to recline
  12. band — a music group
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. scale — size or range
  16. band — a ring
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. scale — in music
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. land — to come down
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. rule — a law
  23. land — a country
  24. mine — for digging

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