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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. saw — the tool
  4. land — ground
  5. hand — help
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. march — music
  10. craft — a skill
  11. saw — the tool
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. roll — a list
  15. hand — in cards
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. march — the month
  18. wax — to grow
  19. craft — boats
  20. land — to come down
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. march — the month
  23. roll — a cake
  24. wax — in the ear

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