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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. cap — of ice
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. land — a country
  7. ground — a position
  8. content — the amount
  9. ground — crushed
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. land — to come down
  12. content — happy
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. prune — to trim
  16. cap — a hat
  17. ground — the earth
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. land — ground
  23. march — the month
  24. cap — a lid

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