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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. land — to come down
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cap — a lid
  7. land — ground
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spell — letters
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cap — of ice
  12. net — for catching
  13. rock — a stone
  14. rock — music
  15. bat — the animal
  16. spell — magic
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. cell — in biology
  19. net — in sport
  20. shower — rain
  21. net — after costs
  22. shower — to wash
  23. cap — a hat
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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