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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. 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. date — on the calendar
  2. ground — crushed
  3. last — finally
  4. land — ground
  5. court — of a king
  6. content — happy
  7. content — the amount
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — the season
  10. last — to go on
  11. bear — the animal
  12. land — to come down
  13. court — for sport
  14. land — a country
  15. court — of law
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. date — the fruit
  18. fall — to drop
  19. last — final
  20. bear — the animal
  21. ground — a position
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. ground — the earth
  24. 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