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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. ground — a position
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. rule — government
  5. row — a line
  6. content — happy
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. last — finally
  9. ground — crushed
  10. content — the amount
  11. row — to paddle
  12. degree — from a university
  13. object — to protest
  14. rule — a law
  15. object — a thing
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. last — final
  19. last — to go on
  20. degree — an amount
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. object — an aim
  24. degree — temperature

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