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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 · content · perch · cue · mine · hand · foot · race

  1. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. land — ground
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. land — a country
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — the amount
  8. cue — a signal
  9. foot — a measure
  10. race — humankind
  11. race — a contest
  12. cue — for pool
  13. race — the arms race
  14. mine — for digging
  15. hand — in cards
  16. content — happy
  17. land — to come down
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. cue — a hint
  20. perch — the fish
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. hand — help

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