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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. land — to come down
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. shower — to wash
  6. rock — music
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. season — in sport
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. land — ground
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. season — of the year
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — in sport
  15. net — after costs
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. dip — to sink
  18. shower — rain
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. rock — a stone

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