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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 116 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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. board — to get on
  3. key — for a lock
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. kid — child
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. land — to come down
  9. land — ground
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. drill — army training
  12. march — the month
  13. snap — to click
  14. key — in music
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. branch — a division
  17. kid — to tease
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. board — a committee
  20. key — the most important part
  21. march — the month
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — a practice
  24. march — music

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