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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — a country
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. degree — temperature
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. degree — from a university
  12. field — for sport
  13. land — to come down
  14. field — farmland
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. rule — a law
  20. degree — an amount
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. rule — government
  23. pitch — completely
  24. field — a subject

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