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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. degree — an amount
  4. chip — for betting
  5. field — for sport
  6. bore — to tire
  7. last — final
  8. chip — to eat
  9. last — to go on
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. degree — from a university
  12. tube — a container
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. land — ground
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — a subject
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. last — finally
  20. tube — the underground
  21. bore — to drill
  22. land — to come down
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. chip — in a computer

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