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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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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 · drill · spell · chip · field · chair · content · toast

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. spell — magic
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. chair — a leader
  5. toast — bread
  6. drill — a practice
  7. land — to come down
  8. drill — army training
  9. chip — to eat
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. drill — the tool
  12. land — ground
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. field — farmland
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — for sport
  18. content — happy
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. chip — for betting
  21. spell — letters
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. spell — a short time
  24. content — the amount

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