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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. spring — of water
  4. fall — the season
  5. spell — letters
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — child
  9. spell — magic
  10. rule — a law
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. rule — government
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. kid — to tease
  17. spell — a short time
  18. fall — to drop
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. land — to come down
  21. fall — to drop
  22. land — ground
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — the season

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