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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. stem — to come from
  6. drill — a practice
  7. current — of water
  8. hand — in cards
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. land — ground
  12. fall — to drop
  13. hand — help
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bass — low music
  16. drill — army training
  17. bass — the fish
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. drill — the tool
  20. current — happening now
  21. current — electric
  22. fall — the season
  23. land — to come down
  24. stem — a stem cell

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