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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — to point toward
  5. land — a country
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. ground — the earth
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. content — happy
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. chair — a leader
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. roll — a cake
  14. land — to come down
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. ground — a position
  17. face — part of the head
  18. roll — a list
  19. content — the amount
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. ground — crushed
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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