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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. rush — hurry
  3. ground — crushed
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. content — happy
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. ground — a position
  8. lean — to bend
  9. hand — help
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. ground — the earth
  12. content — the amount
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. court — for sport
  16. lean — thin
  17. hand — in cards
  18. court — of a king
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. court — of law
  21. branch — a division
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. branch — of a tree

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