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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. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. mug — a cup
  5. land — ground
  6. clip — for paper
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. land — to come down
  10. shower — to wash
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. game — wild animals
  13. cell — a phone
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. mug — a face
  17. shower — rain
  18. mug — to rob
  19. game — a match
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. cell — in biology
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. coach — a trainer

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