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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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. rash — hasty
  4. degree — temperature
  5. kid — child
  6. race — the arms race
  7. mate — a friend
  8. kid — to tease
  9. degree — from a university
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. race — a contest
  12. face — to confront
  13. mate — to breed
  14. rash — a series
  15. face — to point toward
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. mate — a partner
  18. race — humankind
  19. degree — an amount
  20. saw — the tool
  21. land — ground
  22. face — part of the head
  23. land — to come down
  24. saw — the tool

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