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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 124 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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. spring — of water
  3. club — a group
  4. land — a country
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. club — for dancing
  7. current — of water
  8. land — to come down
  9. cold — an illness
  10. current — electric
  11. spring — the season
  12. land — ground
  13. cold — not warm
  14. content — happy
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. club — for golf
  17. spring — a coil
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. current — happening now
  20. track — a path
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. track — to keep track
  23. track — a song
  24. content — the amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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