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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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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 · cell · band · mouse · content · mine · pit · face

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. ground — crushed
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. band — a music group
  6. content — the amount
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. pit — in a race
  10. face — to confront
  11. face — to point toward
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. cell — a phone
  15. pit — a hole
  16. ground — a position
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. ground — the earth
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. content — happy
  21. mine — for digging
  22. cell — in biology
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. face — part of the head

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