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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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468
Word bank
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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. present — a gift
  4. degree — an amount
  5. key — the most important part
  6. key — in music
  7. kid — child
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. present — the time now
  10. key — for a lock
  11. kid — to tease
  12. present — there
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. degree — from a university
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. degree — temperature
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. land — ground
  24. land — to come down

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