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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ground · wake · land · content · firm · foot · pitcher · bound

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. ground — crushed
  3. content — happy
  4. land — ground
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. bound — tied together
  7. land — to come down
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. firm — decided
  11. wake — a trail
  12. firm — steady
  13. foot — a measure
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. bound — certain
  16. ground — a position
  17. bound — obliged
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. land — a country
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. ground — the earth
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. content — the amount

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