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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. degree — an amount
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. land — to come down
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. hand — help
  9. wax — to grow
  10. season — in sport
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. land — ground
  13. season — of the year
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. degree — from a university
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. degree — temperature
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. hand — in cards
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — size or range

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