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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. content — the amount
  3. land — ground
  4. current — of water
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. wind — moving air
  8. land — a country
  9. wind — moving air
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. game — a match
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. land — to come down
  14. current — happening now
  15. content — happy
  16. chip — to eat
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. current — electric
  19. saw — the tool
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. chip — for betting
  22. stem — to come from
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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