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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. cue — a signal
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. cue — a hint
  6. snap — to click
  7. bat — the animal
  8. perch — the fish
  9. lie — to recline
  10. degree — temperature
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. ground — the earth
  13. land — to come down
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. degree — from a university
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. cue — for pool
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. degree — an amount
  20. land — ground
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. ground — a position
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. ground — crushed

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