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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. land — a country
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. mine — for digging
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. land — to come down
  7. field — farmland
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. field — for sport
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. chip — for betting
  14. cold — an illness
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. field — a subject
  22. chip — to eat
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. land — ground

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