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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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. last — to go on
  3. land — a country
  4. land — to come down
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. cell — in biology
  7. lean — thin
  8. last — finally
  9. degree — temperature
  10. date — the fruit
  11. shower — to wash
  12. lean — to bend
  13. land — ground
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. last — final
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cell — a phone
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. degree — an amount
  21. shower — rain
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. degree — from a university
  24. lean — to rest against

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