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

Word bank: land · plane · racket · cold · content · calf · wind · row

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. wind — moving air
  3. content — the amount
  4. land — to come down
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a line
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. land — ground
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. plane — a tool
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. cold — an illness
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. cold — not warm
  23. content — happy
  24. wind — moving air

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