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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bank — for money
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. pop — to visit
  12. bank — of a river
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. pop — soda
  15. content — the amount
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. land — to come down
  18. fork — in a road
  19. content — happy
  20. pop — music
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — to come from
  24. bank — for money

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