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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. net — after costs
  5. scale — size or range
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. rock — music
  9. roll — a list
  10. ground — crushed
  11. cell — in biology
  12. rush — hurry
  13. net — for catching
  14. land — to come down
  15. cell — a phone
  16. land — ground
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. net — in sport
  19. scale — in music
  20. ground — the earth
  21. ground — a position
  22. rock — a stone
  23. roll — a cake
  24. roll — on a roll

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