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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 116 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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. last — finally
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. wound — an injury
  5. band — a music group
  6. ground — crushed
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — to tease
  9. content — the amount
  10. last — final
  11. ground — a position
  12. season — in sport
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. band — a ring
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. last — to go on
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. content — happy
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. wound — an injury
  21. ground — the earth
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. stand — to bear

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