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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  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. bat — for baseball
  3. prune — to trim
  4. content — happy
  5. craft — boats
  6. band — a ring
  7. ground — a position
  8. content — the amount
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mine — for digging
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. band — a music group
  19. ground — the earth
  20. craft — a skill
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. bat — the animal
  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