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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: content · fork · pop · perch · coach · ground · land · bass

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. content — happy
  3. land — a country
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. ground — a position
  6. content — the amount
  7. pop — to visit
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. bass — low music
  10. pop — soda
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. land — to come down
  13. fork — in a road
  14. perch — the fish
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. pop — music
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. ground — crushed
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. ground — the earth
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. coach — a trainer

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