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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 120 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: land · content · perch · cue · mine · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. land — ground
  5. perch — the fish
  6. content — the amount
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. cue — a hint
  10. land — a country
  11. land — to come down
  12. cue — a signal
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. content — happy
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — in cards
  17. cue — for pool
  18. mine — for digging

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