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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. land — a country
  5. degree — temperature
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. land — ground
  8. present — there
  9. date — the fruit
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. present — the time now
  12. chip — to eat
  13. fall — the season
  14. present — a gift
  15. land — to come down
  16. degree — an amount
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. degree — from a university
  19. fall — to drop
  20. chip — for betting
  21. mine — for digging
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. fall — to drop
  24. nail — for a hammer

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