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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. sharp — clever
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. land — a country
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. wound — an injury
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. land — to come down
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. fall — to drop
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. capital — money
  19. mine — for digging
  20. land — ground
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. wake — a trail
  23. fall — to drop
  24. capital — a city

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