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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. land — ground
  3. land — a country
  4. land — to come down
  5. perch — the fish
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. game — wild animals
  8. rest — what's left
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. plane — a tool
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. rest — what's left
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. file — a line of people
  17. rest — a break
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. file — a document
  20. date — the fruit
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. file — a tool
  23. deal — to handle
  24. plane — an aircraft

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