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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. ground — the earth
  3. last — finally
  4. land — to come down
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. last — final
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. cap — a lid
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. last — to go on
  11. ground — crushed
  12. content — happy
  13. wound — an injury
  14. land — ground
  15. bank — for money
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. cap — of ice
  18. land — a country
  19. wake — a trail
  20. bank — for money
  21. cap — a hat
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bank — of a river
  24. ground — a position

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