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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 120 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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. land — ground
  3. land — a country
  4. face — part of the head
  5. spring — of water
  6. face — to point toward
  7. pound — a weight
  8. march — the month
  9. content — the amount
  10. land — to come down
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. bulb — for light
  13. face — to confront
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. spring — the season
  17. march — music
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. content — happy
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. spring — a coil
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. march — the month
  24. bulb — for light

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