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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 116 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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. root — of a word
  6. court — for sport
  7. court — of law
  8. land — a country
  9. root — the cause
  10. spring — the season
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. content — happy
  13. court — of a king
  14. fine — all right
  15. fine — high quality
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. row — to paddle
  18. spring — of water
  19. root — of a plant
  20. row — a line
  21. dip — to sink
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. spring — a coil
  24. land — ground

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