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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  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. hide — to keep secret
  3. land — ground
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. scale — in music
  6. spell — magic
  7. spell — letters
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. track — to keep track
  14. spell — a short time
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. track — a path
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. track — a song
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. snap — to click
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — to come from
  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