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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. rule — a law
  5. last — to go on
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. degree — temperature
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — a city
  10. last — finally
  11. stock — goods
  12. rule — government
  13. degree — an amount
  14. stock — shares
  15. mine — for digging
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. last — final
  19. land — to come down
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. degree — from a university
  22. capital — money
  23. land — ground
  24. bay — a horse colour

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