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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. land — to come down
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. root — of a word
  5. kid — child
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bound — tied together
  8. bound — obliged
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. kid — to tease
  11. content — the amount
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. root — of a plant
  14. chip — for betting
  15. branch — a division
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. land — ground
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. bound — certain
  20. chip — to eat
  21. content — happy
  22. root — the cause
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. land — a country

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