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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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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: field · wave · staff · land · mine · nail · pitcher · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. field — farmland
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. staff — employees
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. content — the amount
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. land — a country
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — for sport
  14. land — ground
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. mine — for digging
  19. staff — employees
  20. land — to come down
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. staff — a stick
  24. mine — an explosive

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