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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 120 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. land — ground
  3. rest — what's left
  4. root — of a plant
  5. last — finally
  6. last — final
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. face — part of the head
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — to tease
  11. face — to confront
  12. root — the cause
  13. rest — a break
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. face — to point toward
  16. kid — child
  17. content — happy
  18. land — to come down
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. last — to go on
  22. content — the amount
  23. rest — what's left
  24. root — of a word

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