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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. kid — to tease
  4. tube — the underground
  5. firm — a company
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. bore — to tire
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — the animal
  10. kid — child
  11. root — of a word
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. land — to come down
  14. bore — to drill
  15. root — the cause
  16. firm — steady
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. wind — moving air
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. tube — a container
  21. root — of a plant
  22. firm — decided
  23. wind — moving air
  24. land — ground

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