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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 · wound · rock · row · snap · mine · lie · content

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. rock — music
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. row — to paddle
  5. wound — an injury
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. land — to come down
  8. content — the amount
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. land — a country
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. mine — for digging
  14. land — ground
  15. rock — a stone
  16. snap — to click
  17. content — happy
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. lie — to recline
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. row — a line

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