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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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468
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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  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. land — to come down
  2. land — a country
  3. mark — a trace
  4. land — ground
  5. swing — music
  6. degree — an amount
  7. game — wild animals
  8. face — part of the head
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. swing — in golf
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. fork — in a road
  13. face — to confront
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — temperature
  16. game — a match
  17. swing — to play on
  18. content — the amount
  19. face — to point toward
  20. content — happy
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. mark — a grade
  23. fork — to eat with
  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