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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. land — ground
  3. pop — music
  4. craft — a skill
  5. hand — in cards
  6. content — happy
  7. pop — soda
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. band — a ring
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. craft — boats
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. hand — help
  15. pop — to visit
  16. mark — a trace
  17. content — the amount
  18. mark — a grade
  19. scale — in music
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. land — a country
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. scale — size or range
  24. band — a music group

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