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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. field — farmland
  3. key — in music
  4. pound — a weight
  5. spring — of water
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. land — ground
  8. spring — the season
  9. land — a country
  10. field — a subject
  11. chair — a leader
  12. bulb — for light
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. key — for a lock
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. key — the most important part
  18. field — for sport
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. content — the amount
  22. spring — a coil
  23. content — happy
  24. pound — for dogs

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