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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. land — ground
  5. kid — child
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. march — music
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — size or range
  14. kid — to tease
  15. march — the month
  16. bank — of a river
  17. land — to come down
  18. bank — for money
  19. snap — to click
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. pound — a weight
  23. march — the month
  24. bank — for money

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