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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. net — after costs
  3. ground — crushed
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. ground — the earth
  8. game — a match
  9. game — wild animals
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. band — a ring
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. board — a committee
  14. content — happy
  15. band — a music group
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. content — the amount
  18. net — in sport
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. board — to get on
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. net — for catching
  23. ground — a position
  24. bat — the animal

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