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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 120 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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — in football
  4. land — ground
  5. face — part of the head
  6. degree — an amount
  7. tear — from crying
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cap — a hat
  10. track — a song
  11. track — a path
  12. march — the month
  13. cap — of ice
  14. tear — to rip
  15. land — to come down
  16. track — to keep track
  17. face — to confront
  18. march — music
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. tear — from crying
  21. face — to point toward
  22. degree — from a university
  23. march — the month
  24. cap — a lid

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