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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 · mouse · march · dip · content · cap · staff · pitcher

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. land — a country
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cap — a hat
  6. land — to come down
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. march — the month
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. dip — to sink
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. staff — employees
  14. march — music
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. cap — a lid
  17. staff — employees
  18. march — the month
  19. staff — a stick
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. land — ground

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