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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. content — the amount
  3. kick — in football
  4. land — to come down
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. roll — a cake
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. cue — a hint
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. roll — a list
  12. field — a subject
  13. land — a country
  14. field — farmland
  15. land — ground
  16. content — happy
  17. rash — hasty
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. field — for sport
  20. cue — for pool
  21. rash — a series
  22. cue — a signal
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. roll — on a roll

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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