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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — in sport
  4. content — happy
  5. ground — the earth
  6. degree — an amount
  7. ground — a position
  8. branch — a division
  9. chest — a box
  10. club — for golf
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. degree — temperature
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. chest — of your body
  15. net — for catching
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. club — a group
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. content — the amount
  21. chest — of your body
  22. club — for dancing
  23. degree — from a university
  24. content — videos and posts

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