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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 116 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. degree — temperature
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. degree — from a university
  5. land — to come down
  6. fall — to drop
  7. file — a document
  8. drill — the tool
  9. fall — to drop
  10. snap — to click
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. file — a line of people
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. drill — army training
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. file — a tool
  17. drill — a practice
  18. degree — an amount
  19. wake — a trail
  20. fall — the season
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. land — ground
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. wake — before a funeral

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