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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 water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. land — a country
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. spell — letters
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. content — the amount
  11. plane — a tool
  12. pound — a weight
  13. land — to come down
  14. content — happy
  15. spell — magic
  16. spell — a short time
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. land — ground
  19. spring — a coil
  20. spring — the season
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. spring — of water

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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