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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. net — after costs
  3. scale — in music
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — money
  6. ground — a position
  7. net — for catching
  8. spell — letters
  9. tear — to rip
  10. net — in sport
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. tear — from crying
  13. spell — magic
  14. tear — from crying
  15. content — happy
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. bound — certain
  18. ground — crushed
  19. bound — obliged
  20. capital — a city
  21. scale — size or range
  22. spell — a short time
  23. content — the amount
  24. bound — tied together

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