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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. object — to protest
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. rest — what's left
  7. object — a thing
  8. spring — a coil
  9. game — wild animals
  10. chest — a box
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. game — a match
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. rest — a break
  16. spring — the season
  17. rest — what's left
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. chest — of your body
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — ground
  22. chest — of your body
  23. object — an aim
  24. spring — of water

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