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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. wound — an injury
  3. content — happy
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. season — in sport
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. saw — the tool
  9. ground — the earth
  10. season — of the year
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. pitch — completely
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. wound — an injury
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. saw — the tool
  19. ground — crushed
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. content — the amount

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