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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. track — to keep track
  3. lean — thin
  4. game — wild animals
  5. ground — a position
  6. press — to push
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. ground — crushed
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. saw — the tool
  11. content — the amount
  12. track — a song
  13. lean — to bend
  14. track — a path
  15. ground — the earth
  16. mine — for digging
  17. press — a publisher
  18. game — a match
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. press — newspapers
  22. saw — the tool
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. content — happy

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