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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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. stock — a soup base
  4. rush — hurry
  5. spring — of water
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. present — the time now
  10. march — music
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. spring — a coil
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. wake — a trail
  15. stock — goods
  16. game — wild animals
  17. land — to come down
  18. game — a match
  19. march — the month
  20. spring — the season
  21. present — there
  22. stock — shares
  23. present — a gift
  24. march — the month

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