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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. wind — moving air
  3. fall — to drop
  4. land — a country
  5. wind — moving air
  6. spring — the season
  7. fall — to drop
  8. spring — of water
  9. board — a committee
  10. land — ground
  11. ground — a position
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. spring — a coil
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — a city
  18. ground — crushed
  19. board — to get on
  20. ground — the earth
  21. land — to come down
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. fall — the season
  24. capital — money

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