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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. pop — soda
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — a position
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. ground — crushed
  7. mine — for digging
  8. staff — a stick
  9. chest — a box
  10. pop — to visit
  11. spell — magic
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pop — music
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. chest — of your body
  16. spell — letters
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. spell — a short time
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — employees
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — the animal
  24. mine — belonging to me

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