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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. march — the month
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. march — music
  10. wound — an injury
  11. land — ground
  12. roll — a cake
  13. wound — an injury
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. stand — to bear
  16. cold — not warm
  17. ball — a great time
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. roll — a list
  20. march — the month
  21. land — to come down
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. deal — to handle
  24. ball — a dance

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