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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. row — a line
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. spell — letters
  8. rule — government
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. deal — to handle
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — the amount
  13. spell — a short time
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. spell — magic
  18. band — a ring
  19. rule — a law
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. content — happy
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. band — a music group

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