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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. land — ground
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. rule — a law
  8. land — to come down
  9. object — a thing
  10. rule — government
  11. ground — a position
  12. object — to protest
  13. ground — the earth
  14. object — an aim
  15. ground — crushed
  16. capital — money
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. swing — to play on
  19. swing — music
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. swing — in golf
  23. wind — moving air
  24. rule — to rule out

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