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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.

Make a worksheet

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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. content — the amount
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. land — to come down
  6. face — part of the head
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. degree — temperature
  10. land — ground
  11. degree — an amount
  12. face — to confront
  13. degree — from a university
  14. face — to point toward
  15. dip — to sink
  16. content — happy
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. content — videos and posts

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