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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. capital — a city
  3. rule — government
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. face — part of the head
  6. rule — a law
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — of water
  9. land — to come down
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bore — to tire
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. face — to confront
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. spring — the season
  19. face — to point toward
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. capital — money
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. bore — to drill
  24. land — ground

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