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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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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: root · fan · content · kid · land · perch · jam · bear

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bear — the animal
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. perch — the fish
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. land — ground
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — a country
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. content — happy
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. root — of a word
  17. bear — the animal
  18. content — the amount
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — child
  22. root — of a plant
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. root — the cause

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