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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 116 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. cell — a phone
  4. land — to come down
  5. race — the arms race
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. cell — in biology
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wake — a trail
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. land — ground
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. season — of the year
  21. race — a contest
  22. season — in sport
  23. race — humankind
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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