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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. can — to be able to
  3. saw — the tool
  4. land — to come down
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. rush — hurry
  7. file — a tool
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. land — ground
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. saw — the tool
  12. degree — an amount
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. row — a line
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. can — a tin
  18. row — to paddle
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a document
  21. current — of water
  22. current — electric
  23. current — happening now
  24. can — a tin

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