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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. squash — the sport
  4. squash — to crush
  5. file — a document
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. ground — crushed
  8. object — a thing
  9. chest — a box
  10. land — to come down
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. rock — a stone
  13. land — ground
  14. ground — a position
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. chest — of your body
  17. file — a tool
  18. ground — the earth
  19. chest — of your body
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. object — to protest
  22. object — an aim
  23. file — a line of people
  24. rock — music

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