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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. can — a tin
  3. band — a ring
  4. can — a tin
  5. band — a music group
  6. staff — employees
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. content — happy
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. staff — a stick
  12. ground — a position
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. staff — employees
  15. cold — not warm
  16. ground — the earth
  17. cold — an illness
  18. ground — crushed
  19. can — to be able to
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. cold — the Cold War

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