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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. content — happy
  3. degree — from a university
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. land — a country
  6. degree — temperature
  7. wake — a trail
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. bulb — for light
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. plane — a tool
  14. face — part of the head
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. degree — an amount
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. content — the amount
  19. bulb — for light
  20. face — to confront
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. vault — a safe
  23. land — to come down
  24. face — to point toward

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