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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wound — an injury
  3. land — a country
  4. land — to come down
  5. row — to paddle
  6. drill — the tool
  7. wound — an injury
  8. prune — to trim
  9. drill — a practice
  10. court — of law
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — the amount
  13. row — a line
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. drill — army training
  16. court — of a king
  17. prune — to trim
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. court — for sport
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. land — ground
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. safe — out of danger

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