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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. land — to come down
  3. bound — obliged
  4. shower — to wash
  5. spell — magic
  6. foot — a measure
  7. spell — letters
  8. bound — certain
  9. bound — tied together
  10. fine — all right
  11. content — the amount
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. land — ground
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. fork — in a road
  17. spell — a short time
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. shower — rain
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. content — happy
  24. land — a country

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