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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. ground — crushed
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. stock — goods
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. game — a match
  9. stock — shares
  10. content — the amount
  11. ground — a position
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. last — to go on
  14. content — happy
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. ground — the earth
  17. last — finally
  18. game — wild animals

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