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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. ground — a position
  3. ball — a dance
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. spring — the season
  8. ball — a great time
  9. spring — a coil
  10. dip — to sink
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. ground — crushed
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — a leader
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. pitch — completely
  20. content — the amount
  21. content — happy
  22. ground — the earth
  23. spring — of water
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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