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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. content — the amount
  5. drill — a practice
  6. rock — a stone
  7. bark — to shout
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. content — happy
  11. drill — army training
  12. ground — crushed
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. rock — music
  15. drill — the tool
  16. ground — a position
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. band — a ring
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. cold — an illness
  24. band — a music group

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