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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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. ground — a position
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. ground — the earth
  5. prune — to trim
  6. ball — a dance
  7. prune — to trim
  8. chest — of your body
  9. content — the amount
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. lean — thin
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bat — the animal
  15. ball — a great time
  16. chest — a box
  17. ground — crushed
  18. content — happy
  19. drill — the tool
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. lean — to bend
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. drill — a practice
  24. content — videos and posts

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