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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. land — a country
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. spring — of water
  5. game — wild animals
  6. land — ground
  7. ground — a position
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. mug — to rob
  10. mug — a face
  11. ground — crushed
  12. ground — the earth
  13. spring — a coil
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. land — to come down
  16. kid — child
  17. plane — a tool
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. season — of the year
  20. spring — the season
  21. season — in sport
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. game — a match
  24. kid — to tease

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