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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. current — electric
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. stem — to come from
  7. land — to come down
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. land — a country
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — in a road
  13. ground — the earth
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. current — of water
  16. current — happening now
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — for catching
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. content — the amount
  21. ground — a position
  22. net — after costs
  23. ground — crushed
  24. content — happy

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