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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. mark — a trace
  3. ground — crushed
  4. content — the amount
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. content — happy
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. scale — in music
  12. mine — for digging
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. spring — a coil
  16. scale — size or range
  17. spring — the season
  18. branch — a division
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. tear — from crying
  21. spring — of water
  22. ground — a position
  23. mark — a grade
  24. ground — the earth

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