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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 120 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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. land — ground
  4. lie — to recline
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. ball — a dance
  7. spring — of water
  8. key — in music
  9. degree — from a university
  10. key — for a lock
  11. chip — for betting
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. land — to come down
  14. land — a country
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. wound — an injury
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — the season
  19. key — the most important part
  20. degree — temperature
  21. wound — an injury
  22. chip — to eat
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. degree — an amount

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