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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. file — a document
  5. last — final
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. tube — a container
  9. bat — the animal
  10. content — happy
  11. mine — for digging
  12. file — a tool
  13. content — the amount
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. file — a line of people
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — a position
  20. last — finally
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. last — to go on
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. bat — in an idiom

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