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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. current — electric
  3. current — happening now
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. clip — to cut
  7. ball — a great time
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. land — ground
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. clip — for paper
  13. land — to come down
  14. capital — money
  15. perch — the fish
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. wind — moving air
  18. ball — a dance
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. wind — moving air
  21. current — of water
  22. clip — a video
  23. capital — a city
  24. perch — for a bird

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