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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 116 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. kick — in football
  3. tear — from crying
  4. content — happy
  5. ground — crushed
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. net — after costs
  8. ground — a position
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. ground — the earth
  11. band — a music group
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — for catching
  14. content — the amount
  15. tear — to rip
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. tear — from crying
  18. band — a rubber band

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