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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. rest — a break
  3. land — a country
  4. mate — a friend
  5. face — to point toward
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. capital — money
  9. net — after costs
  10. rest — what's left
  11. mine — for digging
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. face — to confront
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. rest — what's left
  16. land — ground
  17. net — in sport
  18. capital — a city
  19. mate — to breed
  20. mate — a partner
  21. face — part of the head
  22. net — for catching
  23. land — to come down
  24. fork — in a road

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