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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. land — to come down
  3. mine — for digging
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. current — electric
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. current — happening now
  8. land — ground
  9. last — finally
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. file — a document
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. current — of water
  14. chair — a leader
  15. last — to go on
  16. hand — in cards
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a line of people
  21. hand — help
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. last — final
  24. hand — part of the body

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