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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. court — for sport
  4. rash — a series
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. land — ground
  7. tube — a container
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rash — hasty
  10. net — for catching
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. rest — what's left
  16. court — of law
  17. plane — a tool
  18. land — to come down
  19. content — happy
  20. court — of a king
  21. tube — the underground
  22. content — the amount
  23. rest — a break
  24. land — a country

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