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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: saw · root · content · drill · land · mine · date · stem

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. mine — for digging
  6. land — to come down
  7. drill — army training
  8. root — the cause
  9. drill — a practice
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. content — happy
  12. content — the amount
  13. root — of a plant
  14. drill — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. saw — the tool
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. stem — to come from
  19. root — of a word
  20. date — the fruit
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. date — on the calendar

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