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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. hand — help
  3. land — to come down
  4. content — the amount
  5. ground — a position
  6. swing — in golf
  7. swing — music
  8. land — ground
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. lean — thin
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. prune — to trim
  13. swing — to play on
  14. perch — the fish
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. prune — to trim
  18. hand — in cards
  19. content — happy
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. ground — the earth
  22. lean — to bend
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. land — a country

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