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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pop · key · ground · content · cold · swing · land · row

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. key — the most important part
  3. swing — music
  4. pop — soda
  5. pop — music
  6. key — in music
  7. swing — to play on
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. row — a line
  10. ground — a position
  11. ground — crushed
  12. content — happy
  13. ground — the earth
  14. row — to paddle
  15. key — for a lock
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. cold — not warm
  18. land — a country
  19. cold — an illness
  20. swing — in golf
  21. land — to come down
  22. land — ground
  23. pop — to visit
  24. row — a quarrel

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