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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. field — farmland
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. field — a subject
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. content — happy
  8. face — to point toward
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. kid — child
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. field — for sport
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. kick — in football
  17. face — part of the head
  18. land — ground
  19. kid — to tease
  20. land — to come down
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. face — to confront
  23. content — the amount
  24. toast — bread

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