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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. shower — to wash
  3. land — a country
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. key — the most important part
  6. wind — moving air
  7. season — in sport
  8. season — of the year
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. cell — a phone
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. key — in music
  14. band — a music group
  15. band — a ring
  16. wind — moving air
  17. land — ground
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cell — in biology
  22. key — for a lock
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. shower — rain

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