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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 no middle ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — a position
  3. perch — the fish
  4. chip — to eat
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. club — a group
  7. content — happy
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. chip — for betting
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. wax — to grow
  13. ground — the earth
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. game — wild animals
  17. bark — to shout
  18. club — for golf
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. content — the amount
  22. game — a match
  23. club — for dancing
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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