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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. sharp — clever
  3. land — to come down
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. snap — to click
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. land — ground
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. can — a tin
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. game — a match
  13. wound — an injury
  14. land — a country
  15. can — to be able to
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — wild animals
  23. rule — government
  24. rule — a law

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