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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. net — in sport
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — the earth
  6. net — after costs
  7. kick — in football
  8. object — an aim
  9. object — a thing
  10. ground — crushed
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. net — for catching
  13. bound — certain
  14. object — to protest
  15. spell — magic
  16. branch — a division
  17. content — happy
  18. spell — letters
  19. bound — tied together
  20. bound — obliged
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. spell — a short time
  24. kick — with a leg

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