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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. prune — to trim
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. ball — a dance
  8. net — for catching
  9. face — to point toward
  10. land — ground
  11. face — part of the head
  12. net — in sport
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. ball — a great time
  15. net — after costs
  16. content — happy
  17. content — the amount
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. face — to confront
  23. land — to come down
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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