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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 120 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. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. game — a match
  4. field — farmland
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. key — in music
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. wax — to grow
  11. field — for sport
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. key — for a lock
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — a video
  16. land — ground
  17. clip — to cut
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. field — a subject
  20. key — the most important part
  21. land — to come down
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a kind of play

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