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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. drill — army training
  3. land — a country
  4. mate — to breed
  5. land — to come down
  6. cold — not warm
  7. chip — to eat
  8. drill — a practice
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. content — happy
  11. mate — a partner
  12. land — ground
  13. content — the amount
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. chip — for betting
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. deal — to handle
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. cold — an illness
  22. drill — the tool
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. nail — for a hammer

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