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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. degree — from a university
  3. net — for catching
  4. rest — what's left
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. net — in sport
  8. rest — what's left
  9. net — after costs
  10. roll — a cake
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. bat — the animal
  13. degree — an amount
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. land — to come down
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. land — ground
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. roll — a list
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. rest — a break
  22. degree — temperature
  23. pass — a permit
  24. patient — a sick person

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