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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — the tool
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. row — to paddle
  10. capital — a city
  11. land — to come down
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. land — ground
  18. fine — all right
  19. row — a line
  20. court — of law
  21. hand — help
  22. capital — money
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. fine — high quality

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