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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — ground
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. land — a country
  6. content — happy
  7. wake — a trail
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. game — a match
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. root — of a word
  12. root — of a plant
  13. shower — to wash
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. pound — a weight
  19. shower — rain
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. root — the cause
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. game — wild animals
  24. content — the amount

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