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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. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. rush — hurry
  4. cap — of ice
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. field — for sport
  8. cap — a lid
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. net — for catching
  12. cap — a hat
  13. field — a subject
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. land — ground
  16. chest — a box
  17. net — in sport
  18. chest — of your body
  19. net — after costs
  20. land — to come down
  21. ball — a great time
  22. field — farmland
  23. ball — a dance
  24. ball — a round shape

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