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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. staff — employees
  3. staff — employees
  4. shower — rain
  5. bound — certain
  6. row — to paddle
  7. race — the arms race
  8. bound — obliged
  9. game — wild animals
  10. row — a line
  11. bound — tied together
  12. staff — a stick
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. game — a match
  15. shower — to wash
  16. land — ground
  17. race — a contest
  18. land — to come down
  19. kid — child
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. race — humankind
  24. kid — to tease

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