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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. spell — letters
  3. land — a country
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. staff — employees
  6. land — ground
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. staff — employees
  9. staff — a stick
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. mine — for digging
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — a city
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. stem — to come from
  16. spell — magic
  17. capital — money
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. can — a tin
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. spell — a short time
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. land — to come down
  24. can — to be able to

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