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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. land — a country
  4. land — ground
  5. land — to come down
  6. file — a document
  7. present — a gift
  8. file — a tool
  9. date — the fruit
  10. present — there
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — the underground
  15. file — a line of people
  16. ball — a great time
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. ball — a dance
  20. content — happy
  21. content — the amount
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. tube — a container

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