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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. kid — to tease
  3. land — a country
  4. track — a path
  5. kid — child
  6. wound — an injury
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. fine — high quality
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. tear — to rip
  12. tube — a container
  13. tube — the underground
  14. wound — an injury
  15. tear — from crying
  16. land — to come down
  17. ground — a position
  18. fine — all right
  19. tear — from crying
  20. land — ground
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. track — a song
  23. track — to keep track
  24. ground — the earth

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