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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 120 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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. chip — for betting
  3. cold — an illness
  4. land — to come down
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. chip — to eat
  7. land — a country
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. mine — for digging
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. land — ground
  12. face — to confront
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. face — to point toward
  16. kid — child
  17. cold — not warm
  18. kid — to tease
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. wax — to grow
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. face — part of the head
  24. wax — for sculpting

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