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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. wound — an injury
  4. rash — a series
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. land — to come down
  7. ground — the earth
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. land — a country
  10. content — the amount
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. land — ground
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. ground — a position
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. rash — hasty
  20. ground — crushed
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mine — for digging

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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