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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 120 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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cap — of ice
  6. face — to confront
  7. current — of water
  8. cap — a hat
  9. can — a tin
  10. face — part of the head
  11. cap — a lid
  12. can — a tin
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. can — to be able to
  15. face — to point toward
  16. capital — a city
  17. cold — an illness
  18. capital — money
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. land — ground
  21. current — happening now
  22. cold — not warm
  23. land — to come down
  24. current — electric

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