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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. season — in sport
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. rock — a stone
  6. field — farmland
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. plane — a tool
  11. wound — an injury
  12. land — ground
  13. rock — music
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. wound — an injury
  17. field — for sport
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. pound — a weight
  20. season — of the year
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — money
  23. field — a subject
  24. land — to come down

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