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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. spell — magic
  3. degree — from a university
  4. land — to come down
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. bound — obliged
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. bound — certain
  9. ground — crushed
  10. spell — letters
  11. court — for sport
  12. ground — the earth
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — in a road
  15. court — of a king
  16. land — ground
  17. ground — a position
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. court — of law
  20. bound — tied together
  21. degree — temperature
  22. spell — a short time
  23. degree — an amount
  24. nail — on a finger

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