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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. content — happy
  5. row — to paddle
  6. ground — crushed
  7. net — after costs
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. ground — a position
  10. firm — decided
  11. wind — moving air
  12. net — in sport
  13. board — to get on
  14. firm — steady
  15. face — to confront
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. net — for catching
  19. face — to point toward
  20. content — the amount
  21. firm — a company
  22. board — a committee
  23. face — part of the head
  24. ground — the earth

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