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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. content — happy
  5. net — after costs
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — the amount
  8. net — for catching
  9. prune — to trim
  10. band — a music group
  11. prune — to trim
  12. game — a match
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bear — the animal
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. lean — thin
  19. lean — to bend
  20. game — wild animals
  21. land — to come down
  22. land — ground
  23. net — in sport
  24. band — a ring

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