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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. season — in sport
  3. wax — to grow
  4. club — for golf
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. current — of water
  10. row — to paddle
  11. cold — an illness
  12. row — a line
  13. cold — not warm
  14. land — ground
  15. club — a group
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. current — electric
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. season — of the year
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. land — to come down
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. current — happening now
  24. club — for dancing

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