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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. spell — letters
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. land — ground
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. shower — to wash
  9. face — to point toward
  10. spell — a short time
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. land — to come down
  13. shower — rain
  14. spell — magic
  15. net — in sport
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. march — the month
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — child
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. face — to confront
  22. face — part of the head
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — after costs

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