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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 120 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  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. ground — crushed
  2. content — happy
  3. rush — hurry
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. present — the time now
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. ground — a position
  9. land — ground
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. present — a gift
  12. bore — to tire
  13. present — there
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. hand — in cards
  17. land — a country
  18. ground — the earth
  19. hand — help
  20. content — the amount
  21. branch — a division
  22. land — to come down
  23. bore — to drill
  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