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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  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. last — to go on
  3. last — finally
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. last — final
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. wound — an injury
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. kick — in football
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. land — ground
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. kick — with a leg
  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