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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. perch — the fish
  3. last — finally
  4. ground — the earth
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. ground — a position
  7. band — a music group
  8. band — a ring
  9. land — ground
  10. land — to come down
  11. last — final
  12. clip — a video
  13. saw — the tool
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. clip — for paper
  17. last — to go on
  18. pound — a weight
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. clip — to cut
  22. saw — the tool
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. ground — crushed

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