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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. land — to come down
  4. bat — the animal
  5. roll — a list
  6. mug — a face
  7. roll — a cake
  8. land — ground
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. field — farmland
  11. deal — to handle
  12. field — a subject
  13. spell — letters
  14. mug — to rob
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. spell — magic
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. branch — a division
  19. field — for sport
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. mug — a cup
  22. spell — a short time
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — in an idiom

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