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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. bore — to drill
  4. shower — to wash
  5. cell — a phone
  6. shower — rain
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. scale — size or range
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. cell — in biology
  11. hand — in cards
  12. land — ground
  13. hand — help
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bore — to tire
  17. scale — in music
  18. spell — magic
  19. spell — letters
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. land — to come down
  23. spell — a short time
  24. sharp — clever

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