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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 116 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. wound — an injury
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. perch — the fish
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. saw — the tool
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. land — to come down
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. rule — a law
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. row — to paddle
  16. row — a line
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. saw — the tool
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. wound — an injury
  21. rule — government
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. land — a country
  24. land — ground

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