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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wound · mine · cap · pop · bulb · content · land · wind

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. mine — for digging
  3. cap — a lid
  4. pop — music
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. land — a country
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wind — moving air
  12. land — to come down
  13. land — ground
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pop — soda
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. bulb — for light
  19. pop — to visit
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cap — a hat
  23. content — happy
  24. cap — of ice

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