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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. pound — a weight
  3. ground — crushed
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. content — the amount
  8. content — happy
  9. kid — child
  10. key — for a lock
  11. kid — to tease
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. date — the fruit
  14. net — in sport
  15. net — for catching
  16. net — after costs
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. key — in music
  21. ground — the earth
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. key — the most important part
  24. mine — for digging

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