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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 116 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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. land — to come down
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. land — a country
  6. rest — what's left
  7. file — a tool
  8. wind — moving air
  9. rest — what's left
  10. file — a line of people
  11. land — ground
  12. cell — in biology
  13. spring — the season
  14. wind — moving air
  15. file — a document
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. spring — of water
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. spring — a coil
  21. fork — in a road
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. fork — a garden tool

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