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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. land — ground
  4. current — happening now
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. wound — an injury
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. wind — moving air
  9. perch — the fish
  10. current — of water
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. wound — an injury
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. land — a country
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. mine — for digging
  18. press — to push
  19. press — a publisher
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. current — electric
  22. land — to come down
  23. press — newspapers
  24. perch — for a bird

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