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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. content — happy
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. content — the amount
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. land — a country
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. roll — a cake
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. mine — for digging
  11. roll — a list
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. race — humankind
  14. land — ground
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. toast — bread
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — a contest
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. land — to come down
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. coach — a trainer

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