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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. rock — music
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. swing — to play on
  6. shower — rain
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. shower — to wash
  9. key — for a lock
  10. key — in music
  11. swing — music
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. key — the most important part
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. spring — a coil
  16. wake — a trail
  17. land — ground
  18. spring — the season
  19. swing — in golf
  20. spring — of water
  21. land — to come down
  22. rock — a stone
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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