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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. capital — money
  3. land — ground
  4. rest — a break
  5. race — the arms race
  6. rest — what's left
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rest — what's left
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mate — to breed
  12. capital — a city
  13. cold — an illness
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. race — humankind
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. shower — to wash
  18. land — to come down
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. mate — a partner
  21. race — a contest
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. mate — a friend
  24. shower — rain

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