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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. land — a country
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. degree — temperature
  5. land — ground
  6. degree — an amount
  7. rash — a series
  8. spring — of water
  9. lean — thin
  10. pop — soda
  11. spring — a coil
  12. content — happy
  13. content — the amount
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. lean — to bend
  17. pop — music
  18. game — a match
  19. degree — from a university
  20. land — to come down
  21. pop — to visit
  22. rash — hasty
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a kind of play

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