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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. stem — to come from
  3. land — a country
  4. dip — to sink
  5. land — ground
  6. net — in sport
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. land — to come down
  10. net — after costs
  11. tear — from crying
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. tear — to rip
  15. content — happy
  16. tear — from crying
  17. net — for catching
  18. dip — a sauce

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