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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 · perch · track · cold · rule · fork · content · object

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. perch — the fish
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. land — to come down
  7. content — the amount
  8. cold — an illness
  9. object — to protest
  10. object — an aim
  11. content — happy
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. track — a path
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. land — ground
  17. land — a country
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. fork — in a road
  20. object — a thing
  21. track — to keep track
  22. track — a song
  23. rule — government
  24. rule — a law

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