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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. degree — temperature
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. land — a country
  5. land — to come down
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. field — farmland
  9. current — electric
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — the season
  14. field — a subject
  15. current — of water
  16. land — ground
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. degree — from a university
  19. degree — an amount
  20. spring — a coil
  21. wake — a trail
  22. field — for sport
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. current — happening now

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