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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mine · land · mate · content · fine · saw · cold · squash

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. squash — to crush
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. cold — not warm
  5. mine — for digging
  6. mate — a partner
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. mate — to breed
  10. land — to come down
  11. mate — a friend
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. cold — an illness
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. land — a country
  16. saw — the tool
  17. content — the amount
  18. land — ground
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. fine — all right
  21. squash — the sport
  22. saw — the tool
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. content — happy

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