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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. wound — an injury
  3. land — ground
  4. shower — rain
  5. spring — the season
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. spring — of water
  8. land — to come down
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cell — a phone
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. land — a country
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. spring — a coil
  16. rule — government
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. wound — an injury
  22. shower — to wash
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. rule — a law

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