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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. drill — a practice
  4. stand — to bear
  5. clip — to cut
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. land — ground
  9. degree — from a university
  10. track — a path
  11. degree — temperature
  12. land — a country
  13. drill — the tool
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. chip — for betting
  16. degree — an amount
  17. drill — army training
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. track — to keep track
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. chip — to eat
  24. track — a song

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