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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 help me carry this box?
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. can — to be able to
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. band — a ring
  5. swing — to play on
  6. can — a tin
  7. capital — money
  8. land — to come down
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. swing — in golf
  14. can — a tin
  15. swing — music
  16. capital — a city
  17. perch — the fish
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. land — ground
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — moving air
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. band — a music group
  24. hide — animal skin

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