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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. land — ground
  5. land — a country
  6. field — a subject
  7. track — a path
  8. row — a line
  9. face — to point toward
  10. rock — a stone
  11. rock — music
  12. face — to confront
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. track — a song
  16. row — to paddle
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. field — for sport
  20. perch — the fish
  21. track — to keep track
  22. face — part of the head
  23. land — to come down
  24. field — farmland

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