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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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. hand — help
  4. lie — to recline
  5. kid — to tease
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. saw — the tool
  9. game — a match
  10. game — wild animals
  11. saw — the tool
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — money
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. land — ground
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. land — to come down
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. kid — child
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. wax — to grow
  24. wax — for sculpting

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