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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. rush — hurry
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. cold — not warm
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. last — finally
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. fine — all right
  9. last — to go on
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. cell — a phone
  12. land — ground
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. last — final
  15. kid — to tease
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — child
  22. fine — high quality
  23. cold — an illness
  24. land — to come down

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