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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: present · spell · kid · object · mate · land · wound · content

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. mate — to breed
  4. content — the amount
  5. object — to protest
  6. kid — to tease
  7. present — a gift
  8. mate — a partner
  9. object — a thing
  10. wound — an injury
  11. object — an aim
  12. content — happy
  13. spell — a short time
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. land — to come down
  17. mate — a friend
  18. spell — magic
  19. present — there
  20. wound — an injury
  21. spell — letters
  22. present — the time now
  23. kid — child
  24. land — ground

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