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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 120 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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. spell — magic
  3. content — happy
  4. spell — a short time
  5. ground — a position
  6. ground — crushed
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. field — for sport
  9. wound — an injury
  10. field — farmland
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. bulb — for light
  15. field — a subject
  16. wound — an injury
  17. spell — letters
  18. bulb — for light
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. sharp — clever
  21. content — the amount
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. snap — to click
  24. sharp — with an edge

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