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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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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. spring — a coil
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. toast — bread
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. pit — a hole
  9. ground — a position
  10. ground — the earth
  11. content — happy
  12. branch — a division
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. mine — for digging
  16. spring — of water
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. pit — in a race
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. chair — a leader
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. spring — the season
  24. content — the amount

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