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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. capital — money
  3. bound — tied together
  4. content — happy
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. capital — a city
  8. land — ground
  9. content — the amount
  10. bound — obliged
  11. fork — in a road
  12. fall — to drop
  13. march — the month
  14. fall — to drop
  15. hand — in cards
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. march — the month
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. march — music
  21. fall — the season
  22. land — to come down
  23. hand — help
  24. bound — certain

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