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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. spring — the season
  3. cap — of ice
  4. land — a country
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. ball — a great time
  7. spring — of water
  8. content — happy
  9. object — to protest
  10. club — for dancing
  11. spring — a coil
  12. cap — a hat
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. ball — a dance
  15. game — wild animals
  16. content — the amount
  17. object — a thing
  18. land — to come down
  19. cap — a lid
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. club — a group
  22. object — an aim
  23. club — for golf
  24. land — ground

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