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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — a country
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — magic
  7. prune — to trim
  8. file — a tool
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. land — ground
  13. content — the amount
  14. mine — for digging
  15. root — the cause
  16. file — a document
  17. content — happy
  18. file — a line of people
  19. root — of a word
  20. prune — to trim
  21. bore — to drill
  22. bore — to tire
  23. root — of a plant
  24. content — videos and posts

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