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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. tube — the underground
  7. dip — to sink
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. land — ground
  13. tube — a container
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. land — to come down
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. cell — a phone
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. cell — in biology

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