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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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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. charge — in control
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. pop — to visit
  5. land — to come down
  6. pop — music
  7. pop — soda
  8. lean — to bend
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. prune — to trim
  12. lean — thin
  13. land — a country
  14. charge — electricity
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — happy
  18. prune — to trim
  19. wound — an injury
  20. charge — a price
  21. content — the amount
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. land — ground

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