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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. content — happy
  3. face — to point toward
  4. ground — crushed
  5. scale — in music
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. face — to confront
  8. branch — a division
  9. scale — size or range
  10. clip — to cut
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. clip — a video
  13. content — the amount
  14. face — part of the head
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. cap — a lid
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. cap — of ice
  21. cap — a hat
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. clip — for paper
  24. ground — a position

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