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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. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. cold — not warm
  3. land — a country
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. roll — a cake
  7. land — to come down
  8. mate — a friend
  9. clip — for paper
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. land — ground
  13. cold — an illness
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. lie — to recline
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. rash — a series
  21. mate — a partner
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. rash — hasty
  24. mate — to breed

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