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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. content — the amount
  3. plane — a tool
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. bound — certain
  8. dip — to sink
  9. ground — a position
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. ground — crushed
  16. bound — tied together
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bound — obliged
  20. content — happy
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. band — a ring
  23. ground — the earth
  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