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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. scale — in music
  3. cell — in biology
  4. tube — the underground
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a tool
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — the animal
  12. land — to come down
  13. cell — a phone
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. land — ground
  17. scale — size or range
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. vault — a safe
  21. tube — a container
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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