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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. content — the amount
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — an illness
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. cue — a hint
  12. land — ground
  13. land — to come down
  14. content — happy
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cue — a signal
  19. cue — for pool
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. clip — for paper
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. snap — to click
  24. prune — to trim

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