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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 asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. spell — magic
  3. spell — a short time
  4. land — ground
  5. race — humankind
  6. fall — the season
  7. race — a contest
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. spell — letters
  10. fall — to drop
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. chest — a box
  13. fall — to drop
  14. rush — hurry
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. rock — music
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. chest — of your body
  19. race — the arms race
  20. land — to come down
  21. rock — a stone
  22. chest — of your body
  23. plane — a tool
  24. plane — an aircraft

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