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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. spell — letters
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. field — farmland
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. spell — a short time
  11. tear — from crying
  12. field — a subject
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. field — for sport
  15. shower — rain
  16. tear — to rip
  17. spell — magic
  18. shower — to wash
  19. land — to come down
  20. pass — a permit
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. snap — to click
  23. land — ground
  24. tear — from crying

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