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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. rash — hasty
  3. ground — a position
  4. swing — to play on
  5. swing — in golf
  6. land — ground
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. rash — a series
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. ground — the earth
  11. spell — a short time
  12. spell — magic
  13. content — happy
  14. swing — music
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. land — a country
  17. ground — crushed
  18. spell — letters
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. land — to come down
  24. rash — on the skin

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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