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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 120 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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. land — ground
  3. content — happy
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. band — a music group
  6. land — a country
  7. mine — for digging
  8. cold — not warm
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bore — to drill
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. content — the amount
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. root — the cause
  18. bore — to tire
  19. band — a ring
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. root — of a plant
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. land — to come down
  24. cold — the Cold War

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