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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. fork — in a road
  3. land — ground
  4. content — the amount
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. cell — in biology
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. hand — in cards
  9. land — to come down
  10. bank — for money
  11. bank — of a river
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. net — in sport
  14. hand — help
  15. cell — a phone
  16. bank — for money
  17. squash — to crush
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. squash — the sport
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. net — for catching
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. land — a country
  24. net — after costs

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