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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. content — happy
  3. net — in sport
  4. ground — crushed
  5. band — a music group
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kick — in football
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. band — a ring
  11. ground — a position
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. pit — a hole
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. ground — the earth
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. pit — in a race
  20. net — for catching
  21. content — the amount
  22. net — after costs
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. tear — from crying

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