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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. land — a country
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. prune — to trim
  6. game — wild animals
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. land — to come down
  9. content — happy
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. prune — to trim
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. plane — a tool
  15. land — ground
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. game — a match
  21. foot — a measure
  22. content — the amount
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. chest — of your body

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