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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. current — electric
  4. land — to come down
  5. squash — the sport
  6. wake — a trail
  7. last — final
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. spell — magic
  10. squash — to crush
  11. last — to go on
  12. spell — letters
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. spell — a short time
  15. land — ground
  16. current — of water
  17. last — finally
  18. current — happening now
  19. degree — an amount
  20. rock — music
  21. degree — from a university
  22. rock — a stone
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. degree — temperature

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