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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — happy
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. ground — the earth
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — crushed
  8. lie — to recline
  9. rash — a series
  10. drill — army training
  11. bark — to shout
  12. branch — a division
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. drill — the tool
  22. drill — a practice
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — hasty

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